The End and Beginning of Civilization
by RamaFan
Summary: The age of cheap, plentiful energy is over for the world. As one era crumbles, and another begins how will Kim and Ron weather the storm? Complete.
1. The World Shakes

I kind of like to think of this story as sort of a 'Twilight Zone' type thing. Not quite so far off that one could call it an alternate reality, but just off enough to make things a bit different. This is set as if 'So the Drama' never occurred, just for fun.

Anyway, I have been having fun reading Monkey Fist's _Deep Impact_ story (Which I recommend, by the way). I have not seen the movie, but I might rent it just to see where he is coming from. I really liked that kind of 'end of the world' scenario; his is the inspiration for this story. I thought however, that I might make it something a little closer to home, a pressing issue that is up and coming.

Disney owns Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable and all related content.

This story is rated 'M' for later scenes, and language (nothing to explicate mind you, but enough that I feel it is warranted).

So without further adieu…

* * *

**The End and Beginning of Civilization**

**Chapter One The World Shakes**

Oil. All of the modern world's society is built upon it, feeds off it, and needs it to survive. Oil provides gasoline to run our transportation systems, diesel fuel to power generators, trains, and trucks, kerosene for heating, plastic is made from it, pesticides for farming, synthetic cloth fibers, synthetic rubber, lubricants for machines, chap-stick, clothing….all are products that depend on that magical substance called oil.

Americans love oil. We love to get in our giant SUV's and drive twenty-five miles from our cookie cutter suburban neighborhoods, on crowded loud, unhealthy, congested highways to take our two kids to their little league baseball game, then drive them to the mall, and many other places; only exiting our cars when we arrive at our destination and trekking across scorching seas of asphalt into our place-less, ugly, wasteful warehouses of malls and retail stores that we force architects and city planners to build as generic and horrible as they can just so we can save a buck.

A car is the price you pay to live in America. You are forced to live on its highways and pay for it because you cannot get anywhere without it. You can't walk from your house on the cul-de-sac to the grocery store. You can't walk to school. You can't even walk to a gas station should your car run out of it. But it's not the governments fault. It's not the developers fault. It's not the schools, the architects, the city planners, the mayors, or the policeman's fault. It's your fault. You demanded to have that single family detached home, out in the 'burbs'. You wanted to 'keep up with the joneses'. You wanted 'your space'. You wanted to get out of the 'horrible' city. And now…now you get to understand why people began to live in cities in the first place.

* * *

Kim Possible stood on top of a medium rise building near downtown Detroit gazing across the city at the setting sun. Her red hair lightly blew around her shoulders and the smell of smoke filtered to her nose. Ron Stoppable, her best friend and sidekick set quietly near her feet looking out like she. 

Kim's cloths reeked of smoke and she had small burn holes several places on her shirt. Small red spots were visible on her skin below, burns that sent a harmless, yet searing pain through her arms, shoulders, and stomach. Ron was the same, however for once, he was quite about pain; Rufus was asleep in his pocket. They had just finished one of their hardest and most painful missions to date. It was a rescue mission. One that had promised to be routine, but the lack of facts on the situation before their arrival had mislead them into believing that it was an ordinary mission.

A ten story, upper-class apartment building near downtown Detroit was on fire and residents were still trapped inside. The fire department was doing what it could, but there were still people they could not get to on the upper floors. Team Possible's task was to evacuate as many of those residents as possible before the building was completely engulfed. Those were the facts they knew when they had arrived on the scene three hours earlier, but what they saw when they got there shocked both Kim and Ron.

Upon approaching the scene Team Possible prepared to repel from the helicopter skid onto the roof of the apartment. The fire had yet to work its way that high in the building, so Kim and Ron would have no problem landing on the roof and working their way down to residents; then they would take them back up to be taken off by the helicopter. As Kim prepared their equipment, Ron watched the approaching scene though the open door of the copter. Ron and Rufus had started poking Kim franticly as they approached, yelling for her to look at what was happening.

At the base of the building was a ring of fire trucks, fireman, and police officers. Outside the police line, where normally there would be bystanders gawking there was a mob of no less than 1000 people. As they got closer Kim and Ron could tell that these people were no bystanders, they were yelling, cheering, and even throwing things at the fireman and policeman. They could not tell what they were saying over the roar of the helicopter but it appeared that they were not happy that they were tying to save the structure. Ron looked at Kim and worriedly asked her what she thought, she just shrugged and replied that they had a job to do, and it was saving lives.

As they descended down to the roof of the burning building a few of the residents still trapped had apparently seen them and had made there way to the roof. Ron set about attaching the harness to the people two at a time to hoist them up to the copter; while Kim made her way into the building to get more survivors out. In the next five minutes they rushed seven people up to the helicopter. Just as the flames began to lick the edge of the roof Kim yelled to Ron that she was going to do a final sweep, and if she was not back in two minutes to leave her behind. After a minute, as the flames began to grow higher above the edge of the roof Ron was near panic. He told the chopper to go on and went himself after Kim. Kim had gone down only one floor when she found the floor itself beginning to become unstable, and smoke filling the hallway. She did a quick run through of the immediate area then decided to turn back. As she turned the floor gave way under one foot. Kim was pinned as the fire spread around her, sparks and ash landing on her mission clothes. Kim was struggling to get free, pieces of floor breaking off around her, and the fire spreading above as Ron came bursting through the stairwell door only a few steps behind her.

"_KP!"_ Ron yelled as he came up behind his struggling friend.

"_Ron I'm stuck!"_ Kim yelled trying to stay calm but near panicked herself.

"_Hold on Kim, I'll get you out."_ Ron said wrapping his arms around her waist, and yanking as hard as he could. Kim came free and they had tumbled to the floor. They were not out of danger yet, so Kim struggled to her feet, pulling Ron along with her, and then ran to the end of hallway, where there was a window.

Kim fired her grappling hook breaking the window and catching the top of a streetlight just in front of the building. Ron immediately clung to her as they dove out the window, narrowly avoiding the floor completely collapsing beneath them. The swung in a high arc above the fire-line, then landed with a short roll, just behind the policeman manning the barricade between the mob and the fire. Ron disengaged himself from his partner and Kim bounded to her feet as he popped up, checking Rufus on the way. Instead of the usual cheers and 'way to go' statements greeting Kim as they gathered themselves after a narrow escape, Kim and Ron heard booing, cursing, and someone even through a cup at them. People were yelling things like: "You should have let them burn!" and "You should have gone down with them for trying to get those people out!" Never had they heard or seen a thing such as this after a successful mission of saving lives. Kim was dumbstruck, and Ron just hugged himself, whimpering a little. Why on earth would these people want others to die? What could make them so angry?

Kim was roused from her daze as an officer shook her, thanking her for her help, and telling her several of them would help her get though the crowd safely and somewhere they could be picked up for their ride home. As the officers escorted them, quickly, though the mob of angry citizens, they sneered, continued to yell obscenities at them, and one even took a swipe at Ron. They soon left the crowd behind and headed deeper into downtown, where they would await their ride on the top of the closest police station. Kim turned to the closest officer.

"_What was wrong with all those people? Why were they acting like that?"_

"_I'm sorry about that Miss Possible, those people, or at least some of them, are the ones who started that fire. The people you saved, on the roof. One of them was a top executive for an auto maker, and the other six were three executives from an oil company and their wives; who were visiting. That mob was a bunch of private citizens who were angered by today's announcement that gas prices were rising again by another twenty-five cents. It seems a group of them from some local bar found out where and when those executives would be at that apartment and formed a mob as they came down to protest. Before we knew it there were all those people out in front of the building, and a group of them had doused the front entry in gas and lit it on fire." _Kim looked at the man in shock. There were 1000 angry people back there who had just tried to kill people because of the price of gasoline!

Kim could understand not liking the price of a gallon of gas those days, but to try and kill! It was absurd. Kim and Ron had both followed the news for the past year, they were well aware of the rising energy costs. The previous spring gas prices had risen dramatically and continued to rise throughout the summer, reaching nearly six dollars a gallon in the last week. Mr. Dr. Possible had been pulled from his previous projects to focus on helping to develop new sources for energy, and gasoline substitutes, but they were nowhere near a breakthrough yet. Kim's family had even had to cut back on driving to save money. She and Ron had walked most everywhere all summer, unless on a mission. Luckily Middleton was a compact city, and she lived close enough in that she could walk most anywhere she really needed to go. The trips to the mall for leisure had been eliminated, because it was further out of town, but overall life for Kim had changed only a little. She had heard, though, how awful it was living further out in the subdivisions beyond the mall. Bonnie lived out there and was extra crabby when she had seen her over the past summer; she had mentioned something about being trapped in her house.

This had gotten Kim's attention and she had asked Wade the run-down on the gasoline sich a few months back. Even he was being tapped by the space center for help on the energy research. He informed her that oil companies had come out and announced that they were producing at the highest capacity they could, but would have to slow production because of well supply. Gas prices would continue to rise indefinitely as a result. Kim had heard people complaining that it was the governments, automakers, and oil companies fault. Many claimed it was a conspiracy, but coming from a family so rooted in science Kim had asked her father the facts. He had re-enforced Wade's findings. It was not the oil companies fault, or anybody else's for that matter. The simple fact was that one could only pump so much oil out of the ground so fast, and as the well began to run dry it was harder and harder to get the oil out. He also added that it might get real bad for the world economy, and their way of life soon. His lab had been informed recently that the world's supply of oil had been drastically over-estimated to help ease public concerns. What he had told her had startled her, but did not scare her; that is until today.

Now Kim stood with Ron sitting beside her, wondering how bad it could get.

"_How bad to you think it will get Ron?"_

"_I don't know KP….but it scares me."_

_

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_

One endnote: Yes I am an American, and yes I was raised, in part at least, in the suburbs, so don't think I am speaking out of inexperience or anything. I am not speaking for other individuals, and don't panic were not out of oil yet. I will let it be noted that I am at least a little partially biased because of my education in the fields of Architecture and Community Planning. Maybe I have just taken it too seriously…but hey what's life without a little controversy and passion here and there.


	2. War

Thanks for everyone who reviewed on the first chapter. Yes I know I'm taking a while between the updates, but school is starting back soon (thank god, it will be my last year…yeah!) and my twin sister was married this past weekend. (Fraternal twin, I'm a guy; she's a girl…no we don't look alike in any way.)

**A note on the content of this chapter: Saudi Arabia and the US are allies, and China and the US have peaceful relations. Please do not take my words on that issue seriously, I write for fun, and this is just a fictional story. I have nothing against the Chinese or Saudi.**

Disney owns Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable and all related content.

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**Chapter Two War**

"_Damn Monkey"_ Ron mumbled as he slammed the door to his locker, and headed to his first class. Rufus growled the same in response to his master's sour mood.

"_Why does he have to ruin everything? I thought we were rid of him after sophomore year, yet here I am the first day of my senior year and he and Kim are off to themselves again!" _Ron continued to fume to himself as he trudged down the hallway towards his first class. The past summer between their junior and senior years Kim had started to date Josh Mankey again; and as with her past crushes had left poor Ron standing in the dust once again. It was not that Josh was a bad guy or anything, he had been perfectly nice (if a bit quiet) when he had been around Ron, it's just that….Josh had Kim.

At the time Ron had said no big, in a few weeks they would break up and she would be back hanging with him again. But they continued to date all summer, eventually making it 'official' that they were boyfriend-girlfriend. It had always annoyed Ron the way Kim could just forget about him like that when the object of her affection was around. Why couldn't she treat him like that for once? Just dropping everything and everyone just to be around him! Or becoming speechless just by his mere presence? Ron liked Kim, he respected and stood by Kim, he listened and was there for Kim, but Ron also loved Kim, and not just as a best friend. The moodulator incident had cemented those feelings, but he just could not ask her out. It was against the rules, and he valued their friendship too much to risk it like that. There was also the fact that as much as he did, she would never see him as anything more that just her best friend.

To Kim, Ron was Ron, he was not a guy…he was…him. She could see great things about Ron. He was loyal to a fault, generous, supportive, funny, helpful, kind, and even brave to a certain extent, but she could just not see herself getting attracted to him. She had thought about it after the modulator incident, but just could not risk their friendship that way. They had talked bout the moodulator 'thing' before, agreeing that it was entirely the chip. Much to Ron's dislike Kim had even said that most hated phrase to guys like him: "You're really a great guy, and someday one really lucky girl will get you!" In other words: "I don't want to date you, but I don't want to sound like a royal bitch saying it so this sounds better." He'd heard it before. He had asked nearly every girl in school to every dance since freshman year, and had yet to get a date. Ron could not hold a grudge though, or even stay mad at Kim; she did not even know it was something he hated to hear.

All that was beside the point at the moment, Ron was tweaked because not only had Josh monopolized Kim's time the entire summer, but she had even walked to school with him that morning. Ron was not just lonely in love, but now he felt like he was loosing his best friend. He had barely seen her all summer, except for missions, and their regular Friday night hang time….that was when her schedule was Josh free. Ron let it go though, he had to get to class, and he would actually like to graduate high school.

By lunchtime Ron was back to his usual chipper self, however. Kim and he had met up in their third class of the day, and traded some rather funny comments on the teacher's toupee, and Kim's adventure with the truth ray and her dad's boss. Ron was now seated across the table from the 'happy couple' between his other two friends, Monique and Felix. Ron had not seen much of Monique that summer, since she was mainly Kim's friend but they had seen each other on occasion. He had seen Felix quite a bit; they played at least one basketball game a week together and usually spent Saturday's playing video games. Lately though, even Felix was hard to find, due to the fact he himself had hooked up with a junior student named Crystal, who was quietly sitting on Felix's other side. She was nice, but quiet.

"_Hey Ron-man, how's your first day of classes going?"_ Asked Felix.

"_Ok I guess."_ Replied Ron, who was more interested in the cheese pizza on his plate than any conversation at the moment.

"_That's good to hear, mine are way boring. How about you, Monique?"_

"_Mine are pretty boring too, but there is this cute guy in my home room I think I'm going to ask to the sprit dance next week!" _Ah yes, the sprit dance. It was an annual event held each fall on the weekend before the first football game of the season. This year it was early by two weeks, because of the early start to the season. Ron dreaded what he knew the next question would be.

"_So Ron, are you going to continue your annual tradition of asking out every single girl at Middleton High to get a date for the dance?"_ Kim asked, she meant it as sweetly as possible, but it stung Ron, and ruined all the progress he had made from his mood that morning….not that he would ever let it show. He would just answer with a witty comment, and/or a huge grin as always.

"_No, I don't think so, this year I think I'll let the ladies come to me!"_ Ron answered with a big grin, everyone chuckled, but Kim could see. It was just his way of saying he had finally given up. Ron was persistent, good natured, and could take a joke with the best of them, but she knew he was tired of going to dances and social functions single. After the last years prom she could not really blame him. He had shown up, had asked every girl there to dance, only to be accepted by her, Monique, and Tara. Then sat at a table in the corner for a while eventually leaving hours before anyone else. Kim really did not understand why he was such an outcast. He was outgoing, kind, and nice, he even could practice good manners when he wanted to (which was not around her, although lately they had been getting better) he was decent looking, skinny and messy yes, but not repulsive in the least, but somehow Ron just did not fit in. He'd spend the night sitting in Bueno Nacho, and then go home early to watch TV and play video games. It was painful to watch him crash and burn, but even more painful to know that her best friend was so lonely.

* * *

Ned flopped down in the seat across from Ron in the booth he was occupying at Bueno Nacho, they both looked bored, but Ron also looked forlorn. Ned and Ron were not exactly best buddies but Ned liked to think they had a friendly understanding, after all Ron was his best customer. 

"_So Stoppable, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the dance, you usually go whether you have a date or not."_

"_It's always been Not Ned…and I guess I'm here because I finally have to accept that I am just not welcome at social functions."_ Ron said poking at his Naco while Rufus tried to cheer him up. Ned and Ron were alike, in a way, because they were both social outcast. He looked up to Ron though, Ron had Kim as a friend and helped to save the world on an almost weekly basis; like him though, Ron was not welcome at dances and parties. Some might say it was stupid for the two to be sitting there feeling sorry for themselves, but if they didn't, who else would? He just nodded and they sat in silence for a while. Other than the two, the restaurant was deserted; everyone else was at the dance, or otherwise occupying their Friday night social schedule.

* * *

Kim smiled and hugged Monique as they sat down at a table in the corner of the Middleton High Gym. Josh left her to go get some punch as well as make the rounds to say hey too many of his other friends. 

"_Hey Monique! How's the date going?"_

"_Oh just great…Ryan is so dreamy. Did you know he even rented a Rolls Royce to get us to the dance?"_

"_Wow…and with gas prices right now that must have been even more expensive."_

"_You know it girl; I plan to hold onto him for a long time. So how's your date been going? Is Josh as dreamy as ever?"_

"_It's been good, you know Josh though…he's a little reserved when it comes to conversation."_

"_Do I detect trouble in happy land?"_

"_No, no Monique…he's been just great, I just wish that sometimes he was a little more into the things I like to do. Sometimes we just run out of things to talk about, you know?"_

"_Like fighting villains...I think the only guy who is into that would be Ron."_ Kim just smiled and laughed a little at Monique's comment. Ron would have to be the only guy Kim knew that would willingly run in front of a death ray doing funny faces…even though he did not do it for fun.

"_Speaking of the Ron-man, where is he, he has usually shown up by now and would have been slapped three or four times for asking girls to dance?"_

"_I don't think he's coming this time Mon, He usually asks every girl in school out, and this year he just said he'd let them come to him. I think he knows nobody will ask him, so he may have just finally given up."_ Kim said looking a little sad.

"_That's too bad; I was saving one dance just for him." _Monique replied looking a little sad about it too. She had known Ron for as long as she had Kim, and once they had discovered they had common interests, they had gotten along famously. She could not say she was best friends with him like Kim, but they were good friends too. Truth be told, Monique thought of Ron as one of the best friends a person could have.

* * *

Beep-Beep, Beep, Beep. Ron's Kimmunicator began ringing, startling both him and Ned out of their respective glazed looks. They had been just sitting there, mostly in silence for the last hour. Kim had gotten Wade to make Ron a Kimmunicator during the past summer. Since she was spending so much time with Josh, Ron was not around when he called. Ron dug the device out of his pocket, it was shaped like Kim's and had the same functions, however this one was Red and black, and had an "RS" screen saver just for Ron. 

"_What's up Wade?" _Ron answered as the frazzled looking thirteen-year-old came onto the screen.

"_Ron, are you near Kim?"_

"_No Wade, she's at the dance with Josh; and I'm hanging here at Buano Nacho."_

"_Ok, you need to see this, it's a news broadcast from just a few minutes ago. I'll keep trying to get hold of Kim, but if she's at the dance than she might find out anyway. I'm streaming it now." _ Wade said looking very apprehensive.

Everyone knew that the US had been involved in quite a few power struggles in the Middle East in the past few years; almost all of them over Oil. Alliances had been formed and broken, and the world was becoming uneasy with tensions building. The last year's election had seen a president elected that was in fervent favor of increasing arms spending and getting directly involved with the middle-east's energy crisis. With the mission in Detroit from a few weeks ago fresh on their minds, Ron and Kim had both followed the news on both fronts with a little more interest. Tension had grown within and without the U.S. to take direct, and if necessary, forceful action to secure energy supplies. Wade's face was replaced by the news broadcaster.

"…_.again re-capping the events over the past few hours. The U.S.S. Enterprise, the Navy Aircraft Carrier was attacked by Chinese air force and sunk in the Arabian Sea, there were no survivors. China has claimed that the naval vessel was encroaching on the waters of Saudi Arabia, and was endangering Saudi civilian ships as well as a Chinese escort fleet. China and Saudi Arabia have formally and have declared war on the United States and its allies. They claim that the U.S. was, and has been, taking action against Saudi Arabia, its ally, for the past year; sending naval vessels into their waters and endangering Saudi citizens. Congress has just exited an emergency special session and it is official the United States of America has declared war on China, Saudi Arabia and all their allies…"_

Ron and Ned sat dumfounded. It was everything Ron could do to keep from panicking and running out of there.

* * *

The Gym was completely silent as the news anchor began to re-cap the recent world-wide events of the evening. Steve Barkin had stopped the dance and wheeled out a TV onto the stage so that everyone could see and hear what was happening. Some people looked scared, some shocked, some clung to their significant others and some just did not know what to think. Kim was not scared, but she was shocked and worried; Kim had left her communicator at home that night because it was an important date. 

"_Alright people, I think we can safely say the dance is over, I think that you need to go home and be with your families right now. Please leave in an orderly and calm fashion_." Mr. Barkin announced as he started to usher people out of the Gym and the lights came on. People immediately began to leave, no arguing, and the talking started, taking the place of the shocked silence only a few moments ago.

Kim looked around for Josh, who had left to use the restroom before the broadcast, but was not really thinking about him at the moment. She wanted to get to Ron. She was worried he was going to freak, and she needed his comfort, and advice. As weird and random as Ron could be, he had always known what to say to make Kim feel better, and to push her to accomplish great things. She did not know what it was about him, but he was the reason she could and did save the world. She liked Josh, and was attracted to him, but right now she needed to say goodbye and get to Ron.

"_Kim"_ Josh said walked up behind her. _"I think we need to get home…I'm sorry about the dance and all…"_

"_It's ok Josh, I agree that we need to get home, I hate to seem like I'm ditching you, but do you mind walking home alone? I have got to go find Ron."_ Kim said looking nervous…she did not want her boyfriend to get mad about her wanting to get Ron.

"_No that's fine…I guess I'll call you later?"_

"_Yeah, that's good; I'll see you later, ok?"_ Kim said giving Josh a small hug and a quick kiss before turning and disappearing into the night to find her friend. It looked like it was threatening rain as she made her way towards their hangout.


	3. Days Between

Thanks for the reviews. I'll be updating when I can over the next few weeks, but school started today, and we'll be knee deep in projects by next week, so I'll get to this when I can. The changed the rating with this update because I feel like I could do just as good a job describing everything without explicate sex scenes or excessive language…sorry, I'm not a big fan of writing smut just for the sake of it. It will be suggested later on, and I think it will definitely use all of the 'T' rating, but I don't really feel the need to go over that. I know it's starting a bit slowly, but I think the pace will pick up a bit after this chapter. Also, I registered for the draft when I turned 18…long ago…or at least it seems like it…anyway…I don't' really know all the provisions to the current bill, so don't shoot me if I get it wrong, roll with it.

* * *

**Chapter Three Days Between**

Ned smiled as he caught sight of the attractive redhead entering the doors to Bueno Nacho. Rain-spots were dotted on her dress, but it had just started so she was not soaked. She smiled back and quietly approached, Ned just nodded and got up, silently letting the two friends be alone. Ron had his head laid on the table turned so that he was staring out the window watching the rain begin. He did not seem coherent as Kim slid into the booth next to him, and worriedly placed a hand on his shoulder. He slowly turned towards her and gave a wan smile as he sat up. He may have seemed like he did not know she had come in, but somehow he had known she was coming. His 'Kim sense' he guessed.

"_You alright?"_ Kim asked giving her friend a worried look, and a quick once over as he turned to her.

"_Yeah KP, I'm alright….you?"_ He quietly asked back.

Kim just nodded, and looked very worried. Ron knew that the news had reached Kim and that she must have been worried about him if she had broken away from Josh. He reached out and hugged her; she hugged back, and they sat like that for nearly thirty minutes before anyone spoke again.

"_What are we going to do Ron? I don't think we can save the world from this."_

"_We'll just have to keep doing what we do best KP, saving lives and keeping the bad guys from taking over the world."_ Kim just nodded.

"_I guess we better get home. You can call your parents from my house."_ Kim said as she gathered herself and pulled Ron up from the booth. He handed Kim his rain jacket as they got to the door.

"_What's this for?"_

"_Duh…so you don't get wet."_

"_Ron, I'm a big girl, I can take a little water."_

"_But you also have a nice dress on that you might not want to get wet. By the way did I mention how good you look in it?"_

"_No Ron you didn't, thank you."_ Kim rolled her eyes at his complement…but smiled as she put on his jacket. Ron was never the ladies man, but he could sometimes surprise her by being very sweet. He just gave her a big grin. He had once again done it…eased her fears and worries, she would have to ask him how he did it one day, so that she could pass it on to whomever she married.

* * *

"_No mom…I'm ok…yeah, I'm at Kim's…she's alright…Ok…I'll be home about eleven…ok…yes mom…"_ Ron paced in the foyer of the Possible home as he talked to his mother. Kim had gone off to find him some dry clothes, since he was soaked from the walk home, and the rest of the possible family was huddled in the living room watching the news. 

As Ron hung up the phone Kim came back into the room with a dry set of his clothes, his blue bowling shirt, and a pair of shorts he had left a few weeks ago when he had changed for a mission. He went to change into them as Kim went to change into her night-clothes.

Ron slid in beside Kim on the couch to watch the news with the rest of her family after he had changed and placed his wet clothes in the dryer. Kim immediately took his arm and lifted it so she could slide back onto his chest with his arm resting around her waist. They had both never been very touchy people, but when Kim needed comfort she had always found Ron's hugs to be most soothing. Kim's parents were huddled much the same way on the other end of the couch, and the twins were seated in the floor in front. Were it not for Kim and Ron hugging, and Jim and Tim being quite, it would actually have been a fairly normal scene at the possible household. Everyone was silent as they watched the news over the next few hours. Mr. Possible alternated between switching between the analyst on one channel, talking about how the war would go and if they would attack on US soil or just in the middle east; and c-span for the latest briefing from Washington.

Josh called later that evening just as the family was getting restless of watching the new coverage. Kim ran off to talk to him; the twins went to their room to work on some invention, and Mr. Possible got up to take a call from the space center; leaving Mrs. Possible and Ron sitting in the living room.

"_We'll Mrs. Dr. P, I think it's time I headed home, my parents will probably be worried about me." _Ron said as he got up and stretched some.

"_Ron." _Mrs. Possible addressed him as he began to head towards the door.

"_Yes Mrs. Dr. P?"_

"_Thank you for being here for Kim. Sometimes I think you're the only one she'll allow to comfort her when things aren't going well." _Ron gave her a little smile as he started towards the door again. It was ironic to him, how good it felt to hold Kim when she needed him to be supportive, but how he would never be able to hold her as her boyfriend..

"_No problem, It's what I do. Tell Kim goodnight for me." _He said as she shut the door behind him, Mrs. Possible smiled as he left. Sometimes she wondered if Ron was really as dumb or clumsy as he made himself out to be. Every-once-and-a-while he showed a great deal of perception to things and looked as skilled as Kim.

* * *

The first half of the semester was a busy one for Kim and Ron. Over the next few weeks they battled villains on a weekly basis. It seemed that everyone wanted to take a stab at taking over the world now that things were looking bleak and the public opinion of the government was low. From rebellions to strikes to riots, and Dr. Drakken; Team Possible took on everything. Kim and Ron were run ragged trying to keep up with school, villains, and, for Kim, balance her love life. Things at home got interesting too. While there were not food or supply shortages yet, people began to feel the pressure of the oncoming war and energy situation. Food prices at the supermarket tripled because of shipping expenses, and gas prices continued to rise. People moved by the droves into the central city, setting up houses, and businesses where ever they could fine real estate. Kim and Ron both noticed that the amount of people walking places on their morning walk to school had nearly quadrupled, and many products were even rationed. There was also the war. 

News covered the opening battles relentlessly, and the National Guard was stationed outside government facilities and buildings. At first troops were called up gradually, then, as the battles along the Saudi borders intensified more and more were sent. Early in November things took a turn for the worst. As the countries of the world took sides and developed alliances, the fighting spread. India, which sided with the US as attacked from the north and west by Chinese and Pakistani forces, Algeria began bombing mainland Europe and the Balkan states attacked another American ally: Germany. It was World War Three, but this time it was not over a conquering country trying to take over territory or genocide. The war was not about liberty or the protection of life; it was over the energy sources that the worlds economies needed to survive. In the mainland US the war took on a different, tactic. Chinese loyalist, spies and terrorist groups took to bombing government building, water treatment, power plants, and other vital industries. Panic seemed to sweep over the nation, and riots broke out in several major cities. For Kim and Ron, this actually had a welcome result: the villains went into hiding and they received a most welcome break. This gave them both a chance to have a breather and to celebrate first, Ron's 18th birthday, and then Thanksgiving. Of course for as much relief the break provided Team Possible, Ron also did not see Kim much. Of course he saw her at school, and on his birthday and Thanksgiving, but otherwise she busied herself with Josh.

Ron awoke one Saturday morning freezing in his room. Even though he was buried under a sheet and two large fluffy blankets he was still cold. His parents normally kept the house cool in the winter to save money and because his dad liked it that way, but this was a little ridiculous. Ron looked around for his alarm clock to check what time it was, but could not seem t locate it, he figured he had just flung it across the room when it had awoken him earlier, so he got out of bed and ventured into hall.

"_Oww….that was my toe."_ Ron whined as he stubbed his toe on the stair railing while reaching for the light switch. He flipped it a couple of times but nothing seemed to happen.

"_Hmm…the power must be out."_ Ron mused as he made his way downstairs in the dark to open a curtain so he could see. Something did not sit right though. If the power had just gone out and come back on like normal, it would not be this cold. That meant that power had been out long enough for the house to cool down, which could have been quite a while. Once Ron got enough curtains open he could see to make his way around he went back upstairs, he decided that he would just call Wade to see if he knew why it had been out so long.

"_Hey Ron!"_ Wade answered.

"_Hey Wade-man, what's going on!"_ Ron greeted his friend with his usual cheeriness.

"_What's up Ron? Did you need something?"_

"_Well Wade, ya' see my power it out at the house, and I was wondering if you knew why?"_

"_Sorry Ron, the main power is out here too, but I'm not in a position to find out why at the moment. All of my equipment is packed up, and all I have is a Kimmunicator like you."_

"_Alright Wade…wait, all your equipment is packed up? Are you moving or something?"_

"_Yup, I made several breakthroughs on my energy research and the government seems to think I need to be relocated for safety and so I can be near my work. So now, I own a house!"_

"_You own a house!"_

"_Yeah, well sort-of. They actually gave me a decommissioned cold-war missile silo and an army base along with the 10,000 acres it sits on. There is enough room there that I can continue my work and live there. Eventually I plan on building a proper house, but for now I'm living in one of the officer's apartments located at the base. In fact I was going to call you and Kim to come out and see it when I get settled in. I am actually going to open my own research company called "Load Labs" and I was thinking we might also use the base for Team Possible's HQ as well!"_

"_That is badacal Wade! When can we come see it?"_

"_Not for a while yet Ron, I've got a lot of work to do getting the place livable and updated with all my equipment. I figured I could use this time while we have so few missions going on to get everything out there in order. I've got to go, talk to you later Ron!"_ As Wade cut the connection on his Kimmunicator Ron could not help but yell out a 'booyah!' for the possibility of actually having a headquarters for the team. He immediately began to visualize all the possibilities of how it would look like Batman's bat cave or Superman's fortress of solitude.

* * *

"_Come on Kim! Just think of all the cool stuff we could have out there!"_ Ron said as he followed Kim into the Possible families kitchen to put away their dirty dishes. Kim rolled her eyes as Ron continued to gush about that days' earlier visit to Wade's new abode. They rarely ever saw Wade in person, but since the 'Team Impossible' incident they actually got to see their agoraphobic super-genius friend every now and then. He had become more comfortable seeing them in person, and actually looked forward to their occasional personal visits. She did have to admit, though, some of Ron's ideas sounded pretty cool. 

"_Oh come on Ron, I can see the need for a helicopter pad, but not one that needs to be underground, and can raise and lower. Do you know how much that would cost!"_ Kim said as she playfully punched him in the arm. Ron gave her an evil grin as he poked her in her sides. Kim was not very ticklish, but when you are a person's best friend for fourteen years you get to know where and when they are ticklish.

"_Oh no you don't Ron Stoppable…hey…..hahahahaha…"_ Kim squealed as Ron launched into tickling her.

"_Admit it, it does sound cool…come on, just admit I'm right for once…" _Ron said as she raced from him towards her room to hide, grinning the whole way. I had been a long time since they had just had fun hanging out, but the last few weeks they had done just that.

Since the first power outage that Ron had called Wade about there had been quite a few more. There were rolling blackouts throughout the Midwest because of several damaged power plants in the region. Since she could not go to the movies, or to the mall, or even watch TV Kim had to occupy her time. She always finished her homework early so that was not usually and option, and they had few missions those days. At first she had hung out with Josh, they went for walks, or she would watch him paint…but Josh was not really into the things Kim liked to do. He did not do extreme sports, he was a guy so fashion and shopping were out, he could really care less about cheerleading, he had dated Bonnie, and of course he really could not relate to fighting villains; plus he was not really into conversation that much….a man of few words as it were.

Kim was attracted to Josh, found him interesting at times, and he was really cute and popular to boot, but she found herself bored with the 'non-date' time she spent with him. Instead of hanging with Josh, she increasingly found herself hanging out with Ron. She and Ron could talk for hours without getting bored, even if Ron sometimes made the dumbest comments ever. He could talk about freak-fighting with her, and even if he was afraid of skydiving he liked nearly every other extreme sport, once he got used to them on missions with Kim. He was the mascot so he could relate to the cheerleading squad, and had problems with Bonnie himself. He even tolerated her talking about fashion sometimes…not boys though….even if he did roll his eyes and groan constantly. It was natural for them before the past summer, when she started dating Josh; they had spent nearly every waking hour together. It was comfortable and even though she had not noticed it till now, she really did have fun with Ron.

* * *

"_Hey Wade! What's the sich?"_ Kim asked as Wade appeared on the screen inside her locker. 

"_Terrible news Kim, two things you may want to hear about before they hit the TV later tonight. I got some inside info on the war from a friend of mine at the department of defense. You know about the fact that there were no survivors from the Enterprise right?"_

"_Yeah, that's what the news said at least, why?"_ Kim noticed that wade looked a bit haggard. He had been working very hard for the space center on his energy projects lately, but that did not seem to be what was distressing him.

"_We'll I did not know weather to tell you about this before, but I think you ought to know with today's events…"_

"_Come on Wade, what are talking about?"_

"_We'll Kim…uh…the attack on the Enterprise was not just a bombing…they only used one bomb, and it was launched from the wing of a high flying fighter. To do that much damage with only one hit, and no survivors means only one thing…"_

"_Oh, God…."_ Kim replied quietly, bringing her hand to her mouth, understanding what he meant, Wade nodded looking grim.

"_You might find out about the other in class this afternoon, but I thought I'd let you know. Just a couple of hours ago congress passed a new draft bill. Its previsions are basically the same as the one in effect before this, but with two notable changes: Anyone with a lower than 2.2 GPA in college and high school can be drafted, no more exemptions for all college students, and over 18 seniors who have no real hope of getting into college. Apparently congress recognized that so many people are going to college now that they wanted some way of limiting the number. Anyone who is getting married, or married between the ages of 18 and 21 are also exempt, I heard it was to try and avoid another baby boom like we saw after WWII, because of energy problems. The regular rules also still apply: Only males can be drafted, anyone who already works in an essential government service and all those handicapped or deemed unfit cannot serve. I thought you might like to know because of your classmates, people will start receiving notices in about two weeks. Don't tell anyone about the Enterprise…it's classified, and they probably won't believe you anyway."_ Kim looked solemn. The draft did not really phase her, but the bombing…it was gruesome, terrible news.


	4. Vows

Things are heating up…don't worry we'll see a little more of Kim and Ron in action again later on. I'm also hashing out the direction this 'downfall' will take. I have had several ides about how to bring the two together (KR and the War), but I'll probably change my mind when I'm writing it.  
Reviewers, thanks for your votes of confidence, and ideas. I really am a person obsessed with the workability of some aspects of the story. It seems to add a lot when it actually sounds plausible.Seamus Dubh: I may take you up on your offer to help out with the military procedure…we'll just have to see where the rest of this tale heads! I'm glad you're willing to help me out on that, I really appreciate it.Mattb3671: here's your answer. I'm a big KR fan, and also have a thing for Ron and Shego (By the way, if you want a really, really good one for R&S look up _Unexpected_ by Charles Gray), but I have yet to get a really good story idea for them.  
If more people want to review, that would be great…even if you want to cut it down, don't be shy, it'll only help me in the future.

**

* * *

Chapter Four Vows**

Christmas this year in Middleton, as well as the rest of the world, would be a solemn one. For Ron Stoppable, it might be just the hardest time in his life. He did not celebrate Christmas, he was Jewish, however all his friends did…or at least the few he had. He loved the holiday; he liked to make people smile and laugh, but most of all he loved to see Kim smile and laugh. It was two weeks before the beginning of Christmas break and Ron had received some mail: a draft notice. Ron had registered, as required by law, after he turned 18, but did not really think of the possibility of it actually happening. Now, all he could think of was the fact that he might not be home for Christmas…or ever come home again for that matter. His parents let him take the day off school to take it in. They all knew there was no way to get him out of it. He had not real physical or mental aliments, he did not work for the government, nor did he have a good enough GPA to get in college. Ron spent most of the day setting in the old tree house looking at old photo albums. In a week he had to report to the draft office for his screening, and then a few days later they would head out for a quick boot camp, then to war.

Ron did want to serve his country, but this…this was over money and oil, not freedom or saving lives; he just could not imagine dying for it. All those plans and great dreams of the future with Kim and Team Possible were down the drain now…of course he would eventually have to get used to the idea of giving up his time with Kim anyway. Whenever she got serious with a boyfriend she left him behind, whenever she got married he figured it would be even more so. Maybe this was for the best, a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario; Kim was right when she said to him earlier that summer 'it's time to grow up'.

* * *

"_Hey Kim! Have you seen Ron today? We were supposed to shoot some hoops in the Gym after lunch, but I have not seen him all day_." Felix asked as Kim and Josh walked up to join the group for lunch. 

"_Hey Felix…I don't know where Ron is, I have not seen him since yesterday. To tell you the truth, I'm getting a little worried. He usually calls me on the Kimmunicator if he is sick, and yesterday he said he would call me back after his mom wanted something from him, but he never did." _

"_Hey Wade, I know your busy and all, but I wonder if you might be able to do me a favor?"_ Kim asked as she stood at her locker, dressed in her cheerleading outfit. She had just come from after school cheer practice and was now very worried about Ron. It was not like him to just not call her if something was wrong, and he had been kidnapped by villains before, plus something just told her that there was something wrong with Ron.

"_Sure Kim, what do you need?"_

"_We'll you see Ron missed school today, and I'm getting worried about him. He has not called or anything so I was wondering if you could tell me where he is?"_

"_Sure, let me triangulate the coordinates on his chip…ahh….ok got it. He's in the old tree house."_

"_Ok…hmm…thanks Wade! You rock!"_ Kim thanked her friend, but the fact Ron was in the tree house definitely meant there was something wrong. He did not go there unless something was troubling him, and the fact that he had not been at school today meant it was probably big.

"_Ron! Are you up there?"_ Asked Kim as she climbed the ladder into the tree house, poking her head through the hole to see Ron just sitting there looking glum.

"_Yeah, KP, I'm here."_ Ron answered quietly as she climbed through the hole into the small room. Kim sat down beside him on the couch and put a hand on his shoulder.

"_Hey Ron…what's going on, why weren't you at school today?"_

"_Oh, sorry KP, I would have called, but I guess it just slipped my mind."_ Ron said as Kim looked around the room, noticing the picture books, empty Bueno Nacho bags sitting on the floor, and Rufus curled up in a corner asleep.

"_Ron, what's the matter? Please tell me. You had me worried all day at school, and you're not acting like yourself."_ Ron gave her a week smile, then sighed and handed her the letter. She read it over, re-read it to make sure it was right, and then Kim did something Ron had only rarely ever seen her do. She began to cry.

"_It's alright KP, I'll be fine…"_ Ron tried to sooth her, and hugged her close. Now that she was the distraught one, his previous funk did not seem to matter much. After a few minutes, Kim seemed to regain her composure a little, and stopped crying. She wiped away her tears, sat up straight, and smoothed her clothes and hair.

"_We have a week Ron, and in that week I am going to find a way to get you out of this, ok?"_ Kim was dead serious as she looked straight into his eyes. "_I'm not going to let you go; I need you here for Team Possible."_ Kim explained trying to quell her own feelings and to re-assure Ron.

"_Kim, I don't know…my parents and I already discussed it and they did not see anyway I could get out of it. Maybe it's for the better too….I mean…"_

"_Ron, I'm not asking your permission. I will get you out of this out of this one way or another. Now hand me that packet, and the letter they sent you. I'll talk to my parents, and Wade to see if they can help any."_ Kim said, cutting off Ron, and grabbing both items as, what Ron called, her natural 'Kimness' took over. _"Now come on, we've got to go tell this to my parents, and then we have research to do."_

"_All right, I guess I have nothing to loose anyway." _ Ron said, grabbing Rufus, and the books, then climbing down the ladder to the tree house after Kim. Ron would have to break the news to the Possible's in person, it was only right. In a way her parents were like a second mother and father to him, and they would be just as worried as his were.

* * *

"_Alright Dr. Director, thanks anyway." _ Kim said as she sighed heavily. She had pulled every string she knew how to during the last week. Her Parents, Wade, Monique, and Felix even tried to help find a way for Ron to avoid getting drafted. She had even made Ron go take a physical to see if there was a medical reason he might be exempt. It was all for naught though. Kim had just gotten off the phone with Global Justice's Dr. Director asking if Ron could be signed on as an agent early (before turning 21) so he could avoid the draft, but as much as she wanted to help Dr. Directors hands were tied. All new agents were reviewed by the department of defense for their credentials, Ron would most certainly spark a red flag and be denied…along with being drafted. Tomorrow he would walk into that office, go through his screening, and she might never see him again. 

"_Kimmy?"_ Her mom said as she came into her daughter room. _"What's the matter dear?"_

"_I've done everything I can mom, and I can't get Ron out of this….he has to go...and he's going to get killed…I know he is…"_ Kim began to cry as she looked at her mother. She may be the girl, who could do anything, and she was mature beyond her age, but right now to her mother she looked scared and helpless. Mrs. Possible sat down on the bed next to Kim and pulled her into a hug and let her daughter cry it out.

"_Mom…I can't loose Ron. He's the only reason I can do the stuff I do…he's…he's my best friend mom, I love him…and I'll do anything to keep him from dying."_ She said as she began to stop crying and looked up at her mother, distraught.

"_Kim, I know you don't Ron to go, but he will have to. I know he does not want to go either, but he also knows he will serve his country by doing so. And if you're thinking about sneaking him out of the country, it's not an option, he won't go."_ Kim nodded; she had already talked the possibility over with him, he had told her the same.

"_Mom….there is another way."_ She said looking at her mother, very worried…it worried and scared her too, but if it would keep Ron alive she would do anything she had to.

"_Kim…"_ Her mom followed her train of thought, but when she was about to softly tell her to dismiss the idea, she looked at her daughter. Kim had recently turned 18, a few weeks after Ron…and if she told her no, then Kim would go and do it without her and her father's permission. She was determined, and would do anything_. "Kimberly it's yours and Ron's decision and I know I could not stop you if I tired, so I'll say this. Do what you think is right, but don't lead him into any false commitments. This is not something you can just take back later on. If you do this, it will be for life, not just till he's 21; understand? I'll let you break it to your father if it comes to that, ok?"_ Kim nodded; she would get no sleep that night; she had a decision to make.

* * *

"_Ahh!"_ Ron screamed as he was startled awake by the blare of his alarm clock, only to find Kim staring down at him, with a strange look of fear and sympathy on her face. _"KP….what…what are you doing here? I thought we agreed it was best if I go alone?"_

"_I know Ron, but I just can't do it. I'm coming with you, and don't argue with me, my mind is made up."_ Ron nodded, there really was no arguing with Kim when she set her mind to doing something.

"_You think we could stop by Bueno Nacho on the way home? I'm starving, and I'm sure Rufus is too."_ Ron said cheerily as they drove in Kim's car towards the draft office. She had received the car for her 18th, but at the moment she was not exactly happy about it. She would have preferred to take Ron's scooter to the office, just for the fact that she could touch him if he did have to go away.

"_Honestly Ron, how do you think of food at times like these?"_ Kim said as she smiled at his randomness. Ron was certainly one-of-a-kind. Something struck Kim, though. Something she had never noticed till now; Ron was nervous, very nervous, judging by how hard he was scratching the back of his neck. Ron was also had a one-track mind, so how was it that at this time of seriousness that he had just made a silly comment about food? Ron was not making the comment cause he was hungry…he did it to see Kim smile, and to ease her fears. It was remarkable, she had never noticed it till now, but Ron Stoppable had purposely done that for her.

"_Alright Mr. Stoppable it seems everything is in order. You passed your physical, mental exam, and there do not seem to be any other holds on your entry into the service." _ The bureaucrat at the office speaking to Ron was acting like it was not bit deal to send people off to their deaths, but Kim did not say it to him. She had been allowed to stay for Ron's screening only because she was 'The Kim Possible' and she did not want to anger the man, right now though she was ringing her hands in nervousness. If her plan was to work, Ron would have to catch on and 'run with the ball'…If all went well they would be arguing on their way home, but he would be safe.

"_Are there any reasons you can think of that should allow you an exemption?"_ The man finally asked Ron. There was a brief silence as Ron thought the he started to answer.

"_We'll, I don't…"_

"_Yes there is one."_ Kim said cutting Ron off, he looked at her quite bewildered.

"_And what would that be Miss Possible?"_ The bureaucrat asked, looking over his glasses at her suspiciously.

"_Were getting married….next week."_ Kim said, desperately trying to keep from sweating.

"_Is that right? Is this true Mr. Stoppable?"_ The man asked Ron looking at him discerningly, trying to tell if they were lying. Luckily Ron caught on to Kim's play and rolled with it, despite his bewilderment.

"_Yes Sir…it is, but the way I read the draft bill it only allowed couples to be exempt if they were married before being drafted."_ Ron said, hoping he had not just ruined the 'plan'.

"_Hmm….We'll that is the way it was supposed to be read Mr. Stoppable, but this time I think we can let you slide, it being only a week before your wedding and all. I will need proof, though. I need to see a copy of the valid marriage license by Friday two weeks from now, and your official one must be filed by the same time."_

"_Thank you sir, I'll get it to you ASAP."_ Ron said as she stood to exit the office, sensing the interview was over.

"_Congratulations you two, don't forget to get that license to me."_ The man said as he shook both Kim and Ron's hands and they exited the building. He knew they were lying when they told him that, but he had no doubt that either Ron would come back and do the right thing, or they would actually get married. He seemed very devoted to her and her to him. Either way, the right thing would be done.

* * *

It was silent as they got into the car and drove towards home. Kim pulled into the parking lot beside Middleton Pre-K, where they had met. Kim had done what she came to do today, propose to Ron…or rather break the news to him. By doing so she would keep him alive and safe; this was her gift to him. The both heaved sighs after a minute. 

"_Kim, what did we just do in there? We can't fool that guy into thinking were married. He's bound to find out we are not eventually, then I'll be going off to jail. This is not some joke Kim, this is real…I can't just go telling him that, and then try handing him a fake marriage license."_ Ron said as he began to get panicky. 'Now's the hard part' Kim thought.

"_Ron."_ Kim said sternly but quietly, getting Ron's attention and looking him straight in the eye_. "I was not lying, and it was not a joke. I want you to marry me. I'm serious about this Ron….will you be my husband?"_ Kim said sternly at first, then letting her voice taper off. She turned towards the window; she could not face him if he rejected her.

"_Kim….KP…we can't just go getting married. It's not right….I mean, what do you intend? That it just be till we were 21 then we would get a divorce? Besides you're not in love with me."_ Ron said letting his voice taper off too, just barely whispering the last part so Kim could hear. Kim smiled despite herself; she noticed he did not include himself in that statement.

"_Ron you know me better than that; I don't intend this to be temporary or fake. If we do this, it's permanent, real marriage. Till death do us part."_ Kim smiled at him, but looked distressed as she continued. _"Ron…I don't know if I can ever crush on you like I do Josh. I don't even know if I can be sexually attracted to you. But, Ron, I do know I love you. Maybe only as a best friend, but that's all I need…in time maybe I will develop those feelings for you, I just don't know, I never really gave it a chance until now. If you do go, you will die. I know it, the ship the Chinese sank when they started the war, the Enterprise, was sunk with only one bomb Ron, and there were no survivors."_ Ron looked at her confused.

"_The only type of bomb that can do that is a tactical nuclear warhead. If they used it on ships…we'll it's only a matter of time before they expand their use of them. This is not a war, its suicide."_ She reached out and cradled his cheek in her hand; tears began to edge down her face_. "Please Ron, do this for me. If you want to make me happy…if you want to see me smile, please Ron, don't leave me. I can't go on without you."_

"_Kim… there is something you ought to know. I….I….Kim…I'm in love with you."_ Ron said looking down at his lap, feeling ashamed that he loved her in a way she did not return. Kim smiled.

"_I know."_

"_How?...When did you know?"_ Ron asked, a bit shocked she had figured it out.

"_This week I did a lot of thinking about me, you, and us Ron. I thought a lot about all you have done for me over the years, and that comment Joss made about you stuck out in my head. She said a guy filled with that much fear always charging into action with me was a true hero. She's right Ron, and when I thought about us this week I asked myself 'why would you do that'? Just what made you confront your worst fears everyday? I realized that you loved me. And on the way here…you made that comment about Bueno Nacho deliberately to make me feel better, I never noticed you doing stuff like that before. As I think about it though, you've been doing that all along haven't you?"_ Ron nodded and blushed a bit. Kim smiled and took his hand, and he looked up at her. _"You have given me so much Ron, I'm giving you this…you get me, for the rest of your life."_

"_KP, what if it does not work out? I mean…"_

"_Ron we are getting married. I only asked because it was the right thing to do, but if I have to drug you and carry you kicking and screaming to the alter myself, I'll do it. We'll find a way to make it work, we always have."_

"_Alright Kim, I'll marry you, and you won't have to drug me either. But can I do something before we make it official, though?" _Ron smiled as she nodded, then got out of the car, opened her door and escorted her out and over to the tree where they had first met. Then he dropped to one knee…took a deep breath.

"_Kimberly Ann Possible, will you marry me?" _Kim smiled, Ron always was a traditionalist….and this was the cuitest thing she ever heard of; Romantic, really, in a strange way.

"_Yes Ronald Dean Stoppable, I will." _She said smiling can pulling him up off his knee. They stood there awkwardly for a minute, looking at each other. They both then, slowly brought their heads together and gingerly kissed. It was nice, not as weird at they thought it might be, but at the time they were both to pre-occupied with all the events of the day to really notice if it was 'magical' or not.

"_Maybe I should drive home." _Ron said as they got back to the car.

"_Why?"_

"_We'll, you know most girls are usually week at the knees and distracted after getting proposed to." _Ron grinned madly.

"_Oh Ron! I believe I was the one who proposed to you, and I'm fine!" _Grinning back….same old Ron, now how did he know just what to say? "_Now, about that Bueno Nacho…"_

* * *

Ron was as petrified as he had ever been, and judging by Kim's grip on his hand, she was too. Here they were standing in front of Kim's parents about to announce that they were getting married…..at 18…that Saturday…weather they liked it or not. Needless to say Ron was having a hard time breathing as his head was filled with images of black holes. 

"_Mom, Dad…Ron and I…we'll you see…uh…Ron and I are getting married."_ Kim finally spit out. Mrs. Dr. Possible was quite, but passive looking, waiting for her husband's response to her daughter. Mr. Dr. Possible looked at first like he was shocked…then horrified…and finally very angry.

"_Kimberly Ann Possible, I will not allow any daughter of mine to go off and…"_

"_James, calm down! Let these two explain before you go flying off the handle." _Mrs. Dr. Possible quieted her husband_. "Now Kim, Ron please explain to your father and I just why you want to get married, and how all this came about."_ Kim's mother continued; she knew why, and even knew Kim was thinking about it, but her husband needed to hear it.

"…_.and that's why daddy. I know it's not how your and mom imagined I would get married, and it's not how Ron or I imagined it either, but it has to be this way. Even if you don't approve we are both 18 and will do it anyway."_ Kim finished sternly, after her lengthy explanation of all that had been happening since Ron got his draft notice, her thoughts, trying to find another way, and finally their decision to go through with the marriage. Her father still looked peeved, but better than at first, and her mother looked thoughtful.

"_Do Ronald's parents know yet?"_ Mr. Possible asked sternly. In a way he was glad it was not Ron's idea, and that he was serious about it when Kim proposed it…but he was still a boy, and this was his baby girl.

"_No."_ Kim and Ron both answered.

"_We'll I think you ought to call them Ron and invite them over so that you can explain this to them, alright?"_ Ron left the room to call his parents, reluctantly leaving a trembling Kim to deal with her parents.

"_Kim, before you and Ron go do this, I want you to understand that your father and I will love you…and Ron…no matter what decision you make. Kim, we want you to be aware of just how serious the commitment you are making is. Marriage is not something you or Ron should take lightly, and while we know you want to do this to keep him out of the war, you still ought to consider all the ramifications of your decision."_ Mrs. Possible addressed her daughter calmly about the subject. Mr. Possible was still tight lipped sitting beside his wife, but seemed to relax a bit when Ron left the room.

"_Kim have you considered things like: Where you're going to live? Money and Jobs? If and when you go to college what will happen? Do you even think you can make a marriage with Ron work? Will you get tired of each other, or are you compatible? How will your friends and family react, how will Ron's parents, and Josh? What about sex? Kim, these are all important questions you need to think about." _Kim and her father both went visibly pale at the mention of sex, but Kim was not deterred.

"_Mom, I know there important, and we have not talked about most of that…but we have to do this. There is not other way. Mom, Dad…do you know how the Chinese sunk the Enterprise?...They used a nuclear warhead! If they used it on that ship, then it's only a matter of time before they start using them in ground combat. Don't you see? Ron will die if he goes….and I…I can't live without him."_ Kim was oscillating between angry and crying…but she did have to admit that her mother made a good point. She and Ron should discuss those things, but that did not change the fact that she was going to keep him out of the war no matter what. Ron quietly walked back beside Kim as she finished her rebuttal and gave her hand a good squeeze as he stepped back by her side.

"_My parents are on there way over, Dad's coming from work so it might be half an hour before he can get here."_ Said Ron after Kim had finished and there seemed to be a gap in the conversation. Kim's father finally looked like he was ready to talk again.

"_Kim, Ron…your mother and I need to discuss this a bit before the Stoppable's get here. You mother is absolutely right Kim, you and Ron do have a lot to talk about, I think you two should go and talk a bit while we discuss this ourselves. When the Stoppable's get here you should come back in and we can all sort this out together."_ The two teens nodded and headed towards Kim's room, where they could have a bit of privacy while they waited.

* * *

"_We'll that could have gone better."_ Said Kim as she closed the door to her room, and Ron flopped himself down on the bed with a heavy sigh. 

"_Yeah, I guess it could have. On the bright side though, at least they did not totally cut us off."_

"_True, Ron did you hear the questions my Mom was asking before you came back in?"_

"_No."_

"_We'll she said we should discuss where were going to live, money, jobs, college, and that type of stuff…she also wanted to know about how our friends would react, and Josh, and if we were compatible…and…uh…sex. "_ Kim blushed at the mention of intimacy with Ron. Sure they had both thought about it…they were both hormone riddled teenagers with a best friend of the opposite sex, but had never openly discussed their sexuality, even in abstract, with each other.

"_She does have a point; I guess we do need to discuss some of this stuff. As for where were' going to live…we'll I thought we could stay at my house or yours until after we graduate, then we could find and apartment or something. I'll let you handle Josh. I don't know about our compatibility as a couple, but we've been best friends for 14 years, and we have done fine there..."_ Ron got a little grin at his next comment, but nervously was scratching the back of his neck.

"…_as for sex, we'll I'm a male…that's my sex, and I think you're a female if I'm not mistaken." _He ended with a grin. Kim giggled a bit; at least she could always count on Ron to lighten the mood.

"_Yes Ron, I'm glad you noticed that…"_ They continued to talk waiting for Ron's parents to arrive, touching on all the topics a little. They agreed to cross some bridges when they came to them, but Kim still did not know what to do about Josh, and Ron of course could not really offer any solutions either. She would just have to break it to him when she felt ready.

The wait did not take long, and soon they were explaining their decision to the Stoppable's, who had much the same reaction as the Possible's, however Ron's mom is the one who got mad, and his dad was the voice of reason. The discussion lasted for a couple of hours, each set of parents wanting to talk to both teens about it separately, and then with the other set, and then together. In the end Kim and Ron now stood before four very grave looking parents. Mrs. Dr. Possible seemed to be the designated spokesperson so she began.

"_Kim, Ron. We have discussed this thoroughly with each other and you both, and have finally decided on our collective opinion on this whole thing is. We know you are dedicated to each other, and have been witness to your close friendship for the most part of your lives. We want you to know how serious this commitment is, and that it will be very hard work. It may take you years to fully understand your partner; you will have hard times to deal with and hard decisions to make. Kim, Ron…you're old enough to make your own decisions, and while we don't totally agree with it we do see why you're doing this. We love you both very dearly, and we will support you no matter what you decide to do with your lives, this marriage included."_ Kim and Ron both gave thankful sighs and each other a half smile. There mothers got up to hug each one, and tell them they loved them, and their dads shook hands and quietly talked where they sat.

* * *

"_Ronald, could I ask you to come take a short walk with me?" _ Mr. Possible asked as they finished up dinner. The Stoppable's had stayed for dinner, and it was actually quite nice. Everyone was in a better mood; even Mr. Dr. Possible seemed much more comfortable with the idea once the matter was decided. The tweebs were at a friend's house during the whole time, and arrived back home just after dinner. They knew something was up, but nobody wanted to tell them just yet; Mrs. Possible would break it to them in private, later. They did not need to be getting in the middle of things tonight. 

"_Uh…sure Mr. Dr. P."_ Ron said, not quit sure what to expect from the scientist. Ron gave Kim a worried glance as he headed out with her father.

"_Ronald I want to know what you think of all this."_

"_We'll Mr. Dr. P…I uh...I... I love your daughter very much, and while I know we have never dated…and I'm not exactly the best guy out there…I'll do anything to make her happy. If this is what she wants than, we'll I'd move heaven and earth to make it happen. There's nothing I'd like more than to spend the rest of my life with Kim, but I am worried about what will happen, and if we can make a marriage work, but if it's what Kim wants, then that is what I'll do."_ He had never spoken to anyone about his feelings for Kim, not until today at least, and now he had not only told her but her father as well. Understandably, Ron was having trouble articulating himself.

"_Yes Ronald, I suspected you might. Look son, you might not think you're the best guy for Kim, but her mother and I have always been thankful that you are her friend. You stick by her trough thick and thin, and maybe I've never said it, but thank you. Ronald, I only want what is best for my daughter, and if she is going to marry someone under these circumstances…we'll son, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have as a son-in-law."_ Mr. Possible gave Ron a smile and clapped his hand on the young man's back, then turned to go back inside. Ron just stood there and looked stunned by Mr. Possible's acceptance of him. _"Oh, and Ronald…just so you know, I don't think I'll be launching you into a black hole anytime soon…but if you ever hurt her…"_

* * *

"_Get out! You and Ron….You and Ron are getting married!"_ Monique screeched as she and Kim were talking in a private corner of the mall food court. It was Tuesday and Kim had come to talk in private with Monique, but with gas prices and all her whole family, including Ron had also come along to do some shopping. They were all elsewhere at the moment, even Ron who had gone to get some things for Rufus, and Kim was taking the opportunity to break the news to her friend. Both had missed school on Monday, obviously for the draft interview, then the discussions about their marriage, and had returned Tuesday to class. Kim had told Monique that she wanted to have a very serious talk after school during her break from work. 

Ron and Kim had agreed that it would probably be best to keep their engagement under wraps for now; it was only a week until they got out of school for Christmas break, and their marriage was on Saturday. This would allow them the break to have their short honeymoon…wherever, or whatever it would be, and also to decided on how to break the news publicly. They had already begun the throws of wedding planning, even if it was going to be very short, and very small. Kim's family would be there, including Slim, Joss, and Nana; the Stoppable's, and of course Wade. Ron's best man would be Felix, if he accepted, and Kim's maid of honor would be Monique. The only other guest invited was Dr. Director, and later that night they would be talking with Rabbi Katz about performing the ceremony. They were both aware he might not agree due to the nature of their engagement, but he was Ron's trusted spiritual advisor, and an understanging Rabbi.

"_Yes Mon, we are. Before you ask how or why, I'll fill you in later, it will be this Saturday at the Mt. Middleton chapel."_

"_Whoa, that's fast."_

"_Yes, I know it is, but it has to be done within the next two weeks, and Saturday seems like the right day. Mon, can I ask you a huge favor?"_ Kim was tired, she had not gotten much sleep last night, and she had spent the day trying to avoid Josh while in school. Even thought she loved Monique as her best girl-friend, she was getting a little agitated at the whole thing.

"_Sure…what do ya' need?"_

"_Look Mon, the only reason I'm telling you about this is because Ron and I want you to be there…and I want you to be my Maid of honor."_

"_Oh my gosh Kim! I would love too…now where do I go for the dress…"_

"_First, thanks it means a lot to me that we have your support. Second, we will not be having formal, coordinated wedding attire. I'm wearing a very nice white dress I have, and Ron is wearing his black suite. You can wear whatever you want, just make sure it is a dress and it looks formal…there's one more thing too. You can't tell anybody about this…and Mon, I know how you are, and I mean it. Nobody can know. Ron and I don't quite know what to think about this ourselves we don't want to have to deal with everybody from school, and least of all the press. Got it?"_

"_Alright Kim, but you know you can't keep it a secret forever. Speaking of which, have you told Josh yet? Don't you, like, need to break up with him?"_

"_No I haven't…I just don't know what to say to him. Look Mon, can we change the subject a little…I need to ask you…do you think Ron and I can make it? I mean I think we can, I just don't know about some things. I know marriage is not just about love, but…you know…some of the 'rules' we established as friends are just so hard to break."_

"_Hmm…what do you mean by rules Kim?"_

"_We'll I never really allowed myself to think about Ron as a guy I could have an interest in as a boyfriend. He's very sweet, he loves me, and we have always gotten along really well, despite our differences. But I guess I'm just worried about us not being able to…We'll you know …'get together'!"_ Kim said using air quotes, and giving Monique a look. Kim's mom had sparked some worry in her with her questions the other night, and while Kim was not necessarily worried about getting along with Ron, she was about their intimate contact.

"_Oh…oh! We'll Kim I don't know; I guess you'll just have to take it one step at a time. This is Ron were talking about, all you have to do is say the word and it's his command, I'm sure he'll let you take it as fast or slow as you want to. I think you will be fine, you know Ron is a really sweet guy, and I'm sure once you allow yourself to think of him in this 'new light' you'll like it."_ Monique was right, Kim was still getting used to the idea of Ron being her fiancée and next week he would be her husband…it was very strange; but in a way she kind of liked it.

* * *

Over the next few days the wedding plans progressed. Kim continued to avoid Josh, and she and Ron grew closer every day. Surprisingly, Kim enjoyed kissing Ron…he was actually a very good kisser, and even though it was still a little strange Kim found herself finding more things to like about Ron everyday…and of course he found the same about her as well. Ron had actually turned out to be a very perceptive boyfriend, and she regretted not being able to see his feelings for her earlier. The planning was going we'll, and even their honeymoon was already planned. Wade had surprised them earlier that week with a gift. He was going to give them a small portion of his land to build a house on, but until then, they could stay in the apartment building in another officer's apartment. He had completely redone the entire building (which included six apartments altogether) and had installed all the latest technology into every apartment, and had even handsomely furnished each one. But as the wedding day approached they both grew, understandably, more nervous; they were both worried about how things would go, and what their future held. This is what Kim was thinking about as she sat curled up on her bed late Thursday night. She had tired to go to sleep, and had even talked to Ron for a while, trying to ease her fears. He had done admirably, but he was nervous too, and this was just too big a deal to both of them. 

"_Kimmy…are you ok? Why aren't you asleep?"_ Mrs. Possible asked as she poked her head in her daughter's door, she had noticed the light and was well aware of both teens anxiety.

"_Oh mom…I'm sorry, I'll turn out the light, but I just have not been able to get to sleep."_

"_Kim honey, tell me what you're so worried over."_

"_Its ok mom, I'm just worried about the wedding and all, that's it…"_

"_Kim honey, I am you mother, and last time I checked you never got this nervous over an event, not even asking Josh out."_ Kim sighed, her mom was right, she was even more worried about his than her first time asking Josh to the sprit dance.

"_Yeah, your right…I'm just worried about he future, with Ron and Me, I mean. Mom, is it wrong I don't feel the same way about Ron as I have anybody else I've dated? I mean, I love Ron, but it just seems more like a friend right now…I just wonder if I can ever develop feelings for him like I should have towards my husband. I mean he is sweet, and kind, and he does love me...it's just…I don't know_…" Kim was starting to ramble, she needed to get some advice on this but she was worried about what her mother may think.

"_Kim, have I ever told you about how your father and I met?"_ Kim shook her head no…she really never had heard about her mother and fathers meeting or how they ended up together.

"_Well, we met in college. One night a group of my girlfriends and I decided to hit the town for some fun and relaxation. Since we were medical students we usually spent a lot of time studying, but that night we had agreed to just let our hair down and have fun. We went to this local bar where there was lots of drinking and dancing, and cute guys to hang out with, but after a while I got tired of getting hit on by drunks, and the smoke was getting to my sinuses…so I decided to walk back to the dorms. The walk from the bar to my dorm was short, and it was a nice night so I took my time. About half-way back to my dorm, between the robotics labs and the quad my dorm was on I met a very interesting young man who was sitting on a bench looking glum. He looked like he could use a friend, so I sat down next to him and started up a conversation. He was shy and a bit goofy, but a nice guy. Over the next year I saw that young man many times while I was walking to class and we became good friends. He would walk with me to class, and sometimes we even ate lunch together. We always had fun, and he was funny, and could make me laugh. Eventually he got up the nerve to ask me out, but back then I just wanted to stay friends with the guy, so I refused. A month or so later, just after another boy had broken up with me, he asked me out again. This time I agreed, mainly because I really needed someone to make me laugh, and he could do just that. That date was not exactly magical, or earthshaking, but he was sweet, and we eventually became a couple. That was your father Kimmi. The reason I married him is because he loves me, and he can make me laugh. It was not because he was hot, or because he had muscles, or was popular, but it was because I could see myself growing old with him, and…we'll…we were also best friends."_

It made Kim smile…her dad was a good man, and he loved his family very dearly, she could see her mothers point. Her dad and Ron did share many similarities. They were both goofs, but had good hearts, and Ron could defiantly make her laugh. He always knew how to comfort her or cheer her up, and she'd do anything for him, just as he would for her. Maybe she was looking at everything the wrong way. It was not a question of weather she could love Ron…it was the question of how much she could love Ron…and the answer that was obvious. She could never love him enough. Kim actually slept very well that night.


	5. Honeymoons and Villains

A quick thanks to all my reviewers, and my Beta reader; I appreciate all you input! Not much else to say thanks!

* * *

**Chapter Five Honeymoons and Villains**

"_I now present you to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Dean Stoppable."_ Rabbi Katz announced to the small group as the wedding ceremony ended. Kim and Ron were beaming, excited, worried, and happy all at once. It was now official, and they were going to begin their new life together. Both sets of parents were crying, and the rest of the family looked happy as they took the photos. (Which Ron's father was taking, handing the camera off to the Rabbi during times he needed to be in the shots.) Even if it wasn't big, and a bit 'ahead of schedule', the wedding was beautiful, and both Kim and Ron looked happy about it. Over the past two days, they had spent a lot of time just talking. Kim's mother's story had done a lot to ease her fears, and make her realize she really did love Ron…even if it was a bit strange, but what in their life wasn't? The reception was nice; they retired to a small, rented cabin near the chapel where Kim's mom and Mrs. Stoppable had cooked a meal for it (of which Rufus ate about one third.) After the meal, they talked for a while, and even got to dance a little to the small stereo system and MP3 player that Kim's uncle Slim had brought as a surprise. Then it was time for the new couple to leave.

"_You know I'm going to get that bouquet, girl!"_ Monique sneered at Joss as the two lined up behind Kim for the bouquet tossing. They were the only two single girls there, and both were vying for the item.

"_Nu-huh…Im'a gonna get it…I'm just like Kim; I can do anything!"_ Joss answered defiantly.

"_Oh, don't you try and pull any of that chump, teen hero stuff with me, little girl…"_

"_Hey, you two...I'm tossing here_!" Kim interrupted as she turned her back to the two. Kim reached down and gave the arrangement a high toss, making it come down between the two girls. Joss went immediately into action, pulling a 'Kim' and leaping over Monique's head with a flip and catching the descending bouquet, landing with two feet planted and a small bow. Everyone else cheered, and Monique just gave a 'harrumph'. Next was Ron's turn. Kim and he both turned red as he reached up and removed her garter. Felix, Wade, Jim, and Tim gathered reluctantly in the center while Ron stretched back to let the thing fly.

"_Hick-a-bicka-boo?"_

"_Hoo-sha!"_ Jim and Tim communicated cryptically just as Ron was prepping to let go; they also gave a nod to Wade, who understood immediately. Just as Ron let the garter fly, Jim, Tim, and Wade took two large steps to either side and the back of Felix, leaving him the lone man out, directly in the path of the flying garter…which he had to catch.

"_Now I see why Kim has always called you tweebs…"_ Felix grumbled as everyone else got a good laugh at their antics.

Under a hail of rice from their family and friends, Kim and Ron left the cabin en route to their new home at Load Labs / Team Possible HQ. The lab was on the other side of Mt. Middleton, about an hour and a half out of Middleton itself. They would spend the next week before Christmas there, and would vacation by visiting the slopes of Mt. Middleton; where they could relax and do some skiing and snowboarding without crazed henchmen on their tails. Once Christmas break was over, they would spend their remaining semester at Middleton High, staying at each of their parents' houses (alternating every so often for privacy from the tweebs, and to see both sets of parents.)

* * *

"_Wow"_ Kim and Ron both said as they gazed into the open door of their apartment. Wade had really outdone himself. The place was immaculate, and all the furniture was brand new designer pieces. They had finally made it out to their new home, and had taken a minute to drive around for a small tour Wade conducted via the Kimmunicator. Wade was still only twelve, and while he was mature for his age, he still did not want to be around for the first couple of days of the honeymoon, so he was staying at his parents. With him was Rufus, who Ron had left with him for the same reason. 

Ron stared at his wife as she peered into the apartment, thinking of how lucky he must have been to have become friends with her. He was roused from his staring when she reached for her bag and started to take a step into the apartment.

"_Whoa…nuh, uh, uhh."_ Ron said as he grabbed her on the shoulder and held her back. Kim just looked at him puzzled as he got an evil grin. Ron then reached down and pinched her on the butt.

"_Ron!"_ Kim screeched a little as she jumped from his surprising attack. She did just as Ron wanted, dropping the bag and allowing him to quickly snake an arm around her back and underneath her arms, quickly dipping her back down and picking her up underneath her legs. Ron then gave her a deep kiss as Kim wrapped her arms around his neck.

"_Ron, what are you doing?"_ Kim asked, giggling a little as he positioned them to get through the door.

"_Carrying my bride over the threshold, of course."_ Ron was straining a little as he carried her into the apartment. Kim was not 'heavy' by any means, and Ron was not as much of a skinny weakling as people thought, but Kim did know sixteen styles of martial arts, and fought villains on a weekly basis. The result was a well toned, voluptuous, yet muscular physique, and muscle is heavy. As Ron sat her down on the sofa, he gave her another passionate kiss, which Kim relished. It felt so good to kiss Ron. He was her husband now, so she felt no pressure to hold back as they both let their hands roam. 'Now this…this is magical!' Kim thought.

"_Wow…"_ Kim said breathlessly as they broke apart, her eyes still closed. _"That was great..."_ She whispered to Ron.

"_Yeah…wow."_ Ron whispered back. They both just sat there for a minute, taking it all in. It was done; they were really married, and now here they were as husband and wife on their honeymoon. It was quite remarkable since they were only best friends not more than a week ago. Suddenly, they were interrupted by a loud groan coming from Ron's stomach. It had only been four hours since they ate the huge meal that their mothers had prepared for the reception, but Ron was already hungry again.

"_He, he…sorry…just, you know me!"_ Ron said, grinning; sorry he had interrupted the 'moment'. Kim just laughed and patted him on the stomach.

"_Well, you get to cook since I nearly burn down the kitchen every time I try. Why don't we take a look around the rest of the place, and then I'll unpack our things while you get dinner started, alright?"_

"_Sounds good to me."_ Ron said, hopping up to follow his wife while they explored their new home. The apartment had one spacious bed room, a small living room, bathroom, and small kitchen. It was located on the corner of the building so the living room had plenty of light with a window and a sliding glass door, which led out to the balcony that surrounded the whole apartment. The bedroom itself was furnished with a nice, king-sized bed, two bedside tables, a large dresser, and a desk in one corner. The closet was a nice, big, walk-in, which would provide enough space for both Kim's and Ron's clothes. Ron duly noted that the kitchen was fully stocked with both their favorite foods and ingredients, so he would have no problem cooking this week. Kim set about unpacking as Ron started whipping up a batch of spaghetti in the kitchen. Through dinner, they laughed, joked, and reminisced. Afterwards, they watched a short movie with Kim curled up in Ron's arms.

* * *

"_You can do this."_ Kim said to herself as she looked in the mirror. It was around 11 o'clock, and she and Ron had just decided to head towards the bed….and they both knew what that normally meant during a honeymoon. Kim had quickly excused herself as Ron put the dishes away before he headed into the bedroom. She had locked herself in the bathroom and had been there for nearly twenty minutes. Kim did not have any aversions to having sex with Ron. She just did not know if she was ready for it; with anyone, not just Ron. She knew Ron would say it was alright, and that he could wait as long as she needed, but she felt like if she did that she would be letting him down; it was their wedding night after all. 

Ron sat on the edge of their bed, thinking. He had everything ready. The bed was turned down; the lights were out, and candles were lit…but he was bothered. Was he ready to take this step with Kim? Was she? If he was not, would she be disappointed? It was all a little much for him. One part of him definitely wanted to; it was his wedding night, and he was 'a guy' after all. Part of him also was not so sure. They had just gotten married, and had never dated before; they were both kind of young (not that it stopped many other people) and…what if he could not satisfy her?

"_Deep breath, then the plunge."_ Kim said as she unlocked the bathroom door and silently made her way into the bedroom. Ron was there, still in his pants and shirt, sitting on the edge of the bed, and to Kim's surprise, he looked worried. It did look romantic though. He had already turned down the bed and had the lights out except for a few lit candles. Ron looked up at Kim as she walked in; his eyes actually looked like they bulged and he sat there slack jawed for just a moment. Kim was standing in front of him wearing nothing but her pink underwear topped by a sheer pink negligee, Monique's wedding gift. Once Ron regained his composure, he got up to kiss her, but as he grasped her arms, he noticed that she was trembling.

"_KP…are you alright?"_ Ron asked quietly, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her.

"_Yeah…I just…Ron, please don't be mad at me..."_ Kim started as she returned the hug.

"_It's ok; I won't be mad…tell me what's the matter."_ Kim looked up at him, still trembling in his grasp; he'd never actually seen her scared like this before, and she had fought Shego for her life on regular occasions.

"_Ron, I don't want you to think it's because it's you…it's just…I don't know if I'm ready for this. I mean, so much has happened in the last two weeks, and I just discovered that I'm in love with you…and…and…"_

"_Shhh…It's alright."_ Ron took her left hand and rolled her wedding band between his fingers as he looked back at her. _"To tell the truth, I don't know if I'm ready either."_ Ron said, turning a little pink. _"You're right about the last couple of weeks, I kind of feel like a deer caught in headlights, you know?"_ Kim relaxed when she heard this, and stopped trembling, pulling close to him.

"_Yeah…So what do we do?"_

"_Well…we are married…so there is no reason to stop ourselves if we get carried away. Why don't we go as far as we feel comfortable going, and if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, then it will when we are ready."_ Ron smiled as he looked down at Kim. She smiled back; it was so simple it might just work. She was already more 'in the mood' now that she was not so nervous. She reached up and pulled his head down into a gentle kiss, which slowly intensified in passion over the next few minutes. Somehow, they eventually found their way onto the bed.

* * *

The first thing Kim noticed as she slowly gained consciousness was how warm and comfortable she felt. Slowly, she opened her eyes to a bright light coming from behind her that glinted off a thin band of gold that surrounded the third finger on her left hand, which was just a few inches from her face. The light also softly illuminated the bare chest her head and hand rested on. It was the chest of her husband, Ron, who had been her best friend for more than fourteen years, and who was now her lover and partner. It made him almost look like an angel, softly illuminating his skin and golden hair in the morning light. He had been so gentle, so understanding last night. It was wonderful, and felt so right. It was almost natural for them, an extension of their friendship in a way. Kim decided that he just might be an angel as she wrapped her bare body around him a little tighter and dozed back to sleep. 

A few hours later, she awoke again, this time alone, but was greeted by the smell of breakfast cooking. She rolled around to see the freshly fallen snow from last night covering the ground in a blanket of cool white.

"_Mmmh…that smells wonderful, dear."_ Kim said as she entered the kitchen dressed in one of Ron's red jerseys. Ron was standing in his pajama pants at the stove finishing up the eggs for their breakfast.

"_Sleep well?"_ Ron asked as she walked up behind him, and ran a hand down his back, leaning into him.

"_Well, I don't recall us doing much sleeping…but yes, I slept wonderfully."_ Kim smiled, as Ron gave a little chuckle and turned around to give her a quick kiss as he prepared their plates.

* * *

"_Ahhhhhhhhh…KP!"_ Ron screamed as he flew past Kim on his snowboard down one of Mt. Middleton's double black diamond slopes. Ron was not a bad snowboarder, and enjoyed skiing and snowboarding the most out of all the 'extreme' sports he and Kim had participated in over the years. Yet Ron had a thing about heights, and while he had nearly gotten over his fear of parachuting, he never did much like rappelling or hanging on his grappling hook. This was the reason he had never gone above a single black diamond slope while skiing or snowboarding, but Kim had somehow convinced him (after a morning of practice and begging) that he should come with her on this run. He had done fine the first hundred yards, but lost control and was now flying down the slope. 

"_Ron! Just fall down!"_ Kim yelled, following him down. Just then Ron hit a small mogul, flew up in the air, and landed face down two foot deep in the snow. Kim approached after him, but couldn't help giggling at the sight of her husband face down in the snow spread eagle…his pants around his ankles.

"_Yeah…yeah, very funny, KP."_ Ron said as he turned over and she helped him up.

"_You know, Ron, it's not KP anymore."_ Kim said, giving him a peck on the cheek after he had regained his footing.

"_Yeah, I know, but KS just doesn't sound right…besides you kept 'Possible' as another middle name, so it's still relevant."_

"_True…but I kind of like Kim Stoppable too…anyway, why don't we head down to the lodge? We can change and head home. I'm tired…and we need to keep our energy up for later."_ Kim ended with a playful smile and a wink. Ron turned a little red and chuckled.

"_Race ya!"_ Kim yelled as she leapt into action, flying as fast as she could down the slope on her snowboard, hitting every mogul she could, doing flips and jumps off some. Ron raced after her, avoiding everything he could.

* * *

Beep, Beep, Beep-Beep. The Team Possible 'alarm' sounded, jostling Kim from sleep around ten in the morning on Tuesday. The Kimmunicator rang loudly again, and with a grunt and a sigh Kim pulled the covers up around her and hit the button to activate it. She would have used the view screen / TV / computer built into the wall across from their bed, but Kim thought Wade might appreciate it if he did not get an eyeful of them in bed together. 

"_What's the sich, Wade?"_

"_Hey, Kim, sorry to bother you, but this mission is urgent." _Wade said, eyeing her. _"Why are you so sleepy? It's ten in the morning, and you're usually up by eight." _Wade said questioningly. Kim was usually up early and very punctual, however today she sounded groggy and agitated when she had answered the Kimmunicator. When she and Ron had awoken yesterday, it was snowing heavily, so they decided to stay indoors…and in bed… all day. And they were still there, after having only gotten to sleep a few hours before. Ron could have sworn he had awoken something primal in Kim. Instead of him, the guy, wanting to have sex all the time, it was her. She had just grinned and said it was because she had been deprived 'til now.

"_I thought we agreed no missions." _ Ron said, whining as he rolled over and snaked a hand around his wife, spooning against her back. If Wade could have turned red, he would have.

"_Uh…ahh…sorry about that, I thought…ah…"_ Wade started to sputter as Kim herself turned red and laughed weakly.

"_It's alright, Wade…so what's this mission."_ Kim asked, regaining her composure, pulling the sheet up a little more, and getting back to business.

"_As you know today, I am going to be coming back out to the base to get back to work on my projects. Since the power outages and the riots are spreading, the space center thought it would be best to transfer some of their higher security projects, prototypes, and equipment out to the base. As they were loading the equipment on the truck, Drakken and Shego showed up and stole one of our fusion power cell prototypes. It's essential we get it back ASAP!"_

"_Got any leads on where they are headed?"_

"_Yeah, I have them pinpointed on a small island in the south pacific; your ride is on the way."_

"_Alright, thanks, Wade."_ Kim said as she cut off the Kimmunicator. She let out a sigh then made to get up, shaking Ron as she went. _"Come on, honey, it's time to go to work."_ Kim said. Like Ron, she did not want to go on any missions this week, but duty calls.

* * *

"_So it's not a take over the world thing?"_ Ron asked Dr. Drakken as they squared off together. Kim was in the process of fighting Shego while Ron's assignment was, instead of running the distraction, to retrieve the fuel cell, which was the size of a large computer and weighed nearly fifty pounds. 

"_How many times do I have to say this? To take over the world I need money and power, and have you seen my power bill lately! That fuel cell will provide me with as much power as I need, allowing me, DR. DRAKKEN, to power my latest Death Ray, which I will use to hold Europe hostage until all countries acknowledge me as supreme overlord!"_

"_Ya'huh, ya'huh, that's great and all, but I think we'll be taking this back."_ Ron said as he grabbed the cell and started running away from Drakken. Ron had eased over to the unit as Drakken had begun ranting and was now clumsily running with it.

"_KP, let's go…"_ Ron yelled, tripping over a stair as he ran down towards where Kim and Shego were fighting. Ron went rolling down the stairs; the power cell flew from his hands and went sliding across the room, hitting the base's self destruct panel as it came to a stop.

"_Five minutes until base detonation…"_ An automated voice sounded, alerting both parties to the impending destruction.

"_Ron…"_ Kim groaned quickly, looking over to where Ron was pulling himself from the floor; he had been doing so well 'til now.

"_Don't get distracted, Princess."_ Shego said as Kim turned to see her fist about to make contact with her face.

"_Ahhhhhh…."_ Kim cried as she flew past Ron, landing in a heap just behind Ron. Shego came running after her, ready to inflict a final blow on her arch-rival.

"_Nobody messes with Kim!"_ Ron said, jumping between Shego and Kim, ready to defend his prone wife.

"_Oh, so the sidekick wants to fight me? Whatever…"_ Shego smirked then shrugged, immediately taking a swipe a Ron who ducked, and then flipped over her leg sweep. He did fairly well avoiding Shego's attack for a few moments, but then she landed a punch to his stomach and sent him sliding into a wall like Kim had.

"_Come on, Shego! We'll just have to leave the power cell behind!"_ Drakken said, starting up his hover craft and blowing a hole in the ceiling with one of his numerous ray guns.

"_Later, Kimmie."_ Shego taunted as she leaped to the hovercraft, giving a wave as they flew off. Kim was growled at where Shego had been, and then turned to Ron.

"_Come on, Ron."_

"_One minute 'til self destruct."_ The base alarm sounded as Kim helped Ron to his feet; they retrieved the cell and quickly fled the lair.

* * *

"_Look, all I'm saying is that you could be good at fighting if you just took some time to practice."_ Kim commented to her husband as they sat on a small plane headed back towards the Team Possible headquarters. Kim had seen how well Ron had done avoiding Shego's attacks, and of course she had seen him fight Monkey Fist and others before, but for some reason or another, Ron had always refused help with his fighting skills. Kim figured Ron just might be scared to let her help him. She had convinced him to spar with her a few times before, and had not gone easy on him. Drawing on past experiences of seeing him fight, she had gone full force at him, and got frustrated when he did not fight back. Each time they had ended in her giving up and yelling at him. 

"_Look, Kim, I just don't like fighting, ok."_ Ron said, getting his 'stubborn look' on his face.

"_What if I make a deal with you? If you will agree to do one day a week of combat practice with me, then I'll let you teach me cooking one day of the week."_ This sparked Ron's interest. He had always wanted to get someone else to share his love of cooking, and if he had Kim there, willing or not, one day a week, he might just be able to get her decent at it.

"_No complaining or questioning me?"_

"_Yep, you got it…just me willing to submit to your teaching. It'll be good for both of us…come on, honey, please?"_ Kim gave him her ultimate weapon, releasing the 'puppy dog pout' on her husband.

"_Oh, alright. I'll do it."_ Ron replied defeated.

"_Yeah!"_ Kim said, giving him a hug then a peck on the lips. Somehow, Ron knew he was going to regret this…especially after their first marital disagreement….knowing Kim, she'd take it to the mat.


	6. Christmas and Fights

A quick thanks to my Beta reader: daywalkr82, he's been a great help in improving my spelling and grammar. My English Composition professors would be proud. Oh, and for those wondering about when I'm going to bring this all together, it should not be too long. I intended this story to be short when I started, but it may run a little longer than I thought.

**

* * *

Chapter Six Christmas and Fights**

"_Daddy! What are you doing here?"_ Kim exclaimed as she turned the color of her hair. A moment before, they had received and unexpected ring from their doorbell and Kim had jumped up to answer it not even registering the fact that she was now only dressed in one of Ron's red jersey's and her underwear. Kim and Ron had gotten home from the mission just after two and had spent a while 're-living their experiences' from last night; it was now five o'clock and Ron was starting dinner. Kim had flung open the door and was immediately faced with the fact that standing before her was her own father, and she was lacking some essential clothing items.

"_Umm…Kimberly, you might want to go put something on…"_ Mr. Possible said, covering his eyes and motioning for his daughter to go do so. Kim scurried off to do so, quickly slamming the bedroom door, mortified that her father and just gotten, practically, a written confirmation that she and Ron had…consummated…their relationship.

"_Umm…hey Mr. Dr. P… come in and have a seat, I was just about to cook some dinner."_ Ron said nervously. He had more visions of black holes; his father-in-law would launch him into space, solving his draft problem and Mr. Possible's 'boy' problem once and for all. Mr. Possible just gave Ron a disgruntled look, came in, and took a seat on their couch, shutting the door behind him.

"_Well, Ronald it seems you and Kim have begun to adjust to married life."_ Mr. Possible said, relaxing a bit. He knew his daughter was an adventurous girl, and Ron was her husband, and it's not like he didn't expect it to happen, but he would have rather not have gotten that confirmation.

"_Yeah, Uh, Mr. Dr. P…um…about that…I can…"_ Ron started to stammer, trying to apologize. Mr. Possible just help up a hand.

"_You are married, Ron; you and she have not done anything wrong…however, I would rather not see my daughter like that again, if you don't mind."_ Ron just nodded, relieved that Mr. Possible was not going to try and kill him on the spot.

"_So…what brings you by?" _Ron asked. Really, they were practically in the middle of nowhere and the location of the base was actually a secret. They and Wade knew how to get here, but as far as Ron knew, nobody else did. Kim came out of the bedroom, this time fully dressed in her black pants and teal shirt, and stood beside Ron.

"_Well, I thought I would surprise you two by coming by for a quick visit on my way home. You see, since the space center decided to move a few projects out here, my job came with it. So I'll be working out here until the center deems it safe for us to move the projects back. That project you rescued this morning happens to be the one I'm working on right now…a similar fusion cell powers Kimmie-cub's electric car." _Mr. Possible explained.

"_Oh so that's how you got a car when you turned eighteen." _Ron said, the realization hitting him, even though Kim had explained all this to him weeks ago…but that was Ron. Kim just rolled her eyes.

"_So, dad…would you like to stay for dinner? You know Ron is a pretty good cook."_

"_Sure, but let me call your mother and let her know." _Mr. Possible said with a smile. Ron might not be the brightest boy, but he did have many redeeming qualities. One of them was that he made up for Kim's lack of ability in the kitchen. Mr. Possible stayed for dinner, enjoyed the grilled chicken and pasta dish that Ron had masterfully prepared. Kim and Ron joked, laughed, and told stories as much to him as to themselves all throughout the meal. It was nice to see his daughter happy. It reminded him so much of his wife and himself just after they were married. Obviously, they were much older, seven years older, when they had gotten married, but despite Ron's and even Kim's lack of maturity in many aspects, they seemed happy. They would have fights; there was no denying that. Fourteen years as best friends had seen their fair share of fighting. He remembered one time during their freshman year; they had gotten in one so big that they had even stopped talking to one another for a week. But it didn't last, they had always found a way to work though their problems as best friends; hopefully they would as a couple.

* * *

If there was one thing Ron could never fully understand about Kim, it was her inability to sit still. That would explain why he was now tiredly staring at the ceiling of his wife's room in his in-laws house. Just the other day, they had come home from their honeymoon…which was a vacation, and now he needed another vacation to recover from his vacation. The rest of the week had gone smoothly, at least on the mission front. He and Kim had skied and snowboarded some more; they had done some combat practice, like he promised; they had cooked, like she promised. They visited Wade and her father (who had returned Rufus, who was now curled up in a ball in Kim's window seat); they had even driven into town to file their marriage license, and take a copy to the draft office. The guy at the office had been the same one who had done Ron's review, thankfully, but he had been skeptical when they presented him with the document…he even wanted to see their wedding bands. Now, they were at Kim's house for the week of Christmas, and had been visiting back and forth between the houses for Ron's Chanukah celebration, and Kim's Christmas. It had been another tiring week. At the moment, Kim was chasing down her twin brothers to beat them senseless after they had taken a picture of her and Ron kissing. Ron thought it was funny, but Kim was…well, she was Kim. 

Being back in Middleton after a week away was another experience altogether as well. Things looked bleak for citizens and the country at the moment. Just about everything was rationed; you could only drive certain times of the day, and you could only buy so much fuel a week. Protests, riots, and demonstrations of all sorts were sprouting up everywhere. There were people for the war, people against it, people who wanted to abolish government, people who wanted more government….an endless stream of variation. The mood amongst Kim, Ron, and their close friends (pretty much limited to Monique, Wade, and Felix) was somber. Many of their other acquaintances and friends had either been drafted or had chosen to join the armed forces. It was definitely a sobering experience for everyone…most of all Ron, who amongst them was the only eligible draftee, and one who had been drafted only to be saved by his best friend turned wife. They did not talk about it, and nobody blamed Kim or Ron, but Ron sometimes felt like he had done something wrong. On the actual war front, things were at a stalemate. Word had not reached citizens about China's use of tactical nukes yet, but it was apparent that they had no reservations about using such force. Several ships and their support groups had gone suddenly missing as well, but as far as Kim, Ron, or Wade could tell they had not yet expanded to using nukes on ground forces; but if one side got desperate, nothing would stop them now.

Kim and Ron were in the news every now and then, (Over the week of Christmas and before.) mostly as inspirational pieces to lighten the hearts of citizens and boost the country's moral, they were even interviewed early one morning…well Kim had been interviewed, and much to her dislike, they ignored Ron. Ron did not mind too much, but Kim had vowed that he would get more recognition in the future.

"_Ron."_ Kim's voice rang though the house and startled him from his daze. He did not realize it 'til now, but he had been lying there thinking for nearly thirty minutes when she called him. It was time for the Possible family annual Christmas eve tradition: Reading the Christmas story. Ron, being Jewish, had always opted to leave Kim's house about now when they were just best friends, but this year he was part of the family, so whether he believed or not, he would sit and respectfully listen.

* * *

"_Oh my gosh, Ron!"_ Kim gasped excitedly as she held the small, square, black box in front of her. It was Christmas morning, and while Kim had been participating in Chanukah by giving gifts with Ron and helping his family with the celebration, Ron had also participated in all of the Possible family traditions. Of course as always, though, they had presents for each other on Christmas morning. Kim had given Ron a very nice watch and some other small items for Christmas while Ron had only gotten her one small thing. Now she was sitting on the floor in her pajamas, staring open mouthed back and forth between Ron and the box. Jim and Tim were peering over her shoulder and her parents were giving each other and their daughter and son-in-law loving looks. 

"_I know we were only engaged for a week, but I thought you might like to feel like we were for longer."_ Ron said, beaming at his wife as he kneeled down on the floor beside her and removed the delicate engagement ring from the box. It was a small ring of gold with a diamond solitaire set in the center. Ron would have gotten her something larger, but this was all he could afford after having sold some of the jewelry he had purchased with his naco royalty money.

"_Oh, Ron, you are so wonderful."_ Kim gasped, kissing him after he had placed the ring on her finger. _"When did you go get this? We have hardly been apart since we got engaged."_

"_Well, when we all went to the mall, and while you were talking to Monique, I went and bought it. I thought I might give it to you before the wedding, but I never really got a chance, so I decided it might make a good Christmas present."_

"_Thank you so much, honey. You know, now I feel bad because I didn't give you so much."_

"_KP…you've already given me more than I could ever ask."_ They smiled at each other kissing one more time, much to her brothers' dislike.

"_Come on, Ron!"_

"_You have got to come check this out!"_ Kim's brothers, Jim and Tim, completed each others sentence as they dragged Ron to his feet and headed towards their game station to try out the video games they had received for Christmas. Ron just shrugged at Kim, who laughed and waved a small goodbye to him as her brothers dragged him off. Kim stood there and watched the three swoon over the game from the doorway, a funny smile on her face.

"_You know, they remind me of the two of you at that age."_ Mrs. Possible said, smiling from beside her daughter.

"_They do?"_

"_Of course they do, Kimmie. When one of you got the latest of something, you always had to share it with each other first. I'm glad Jim and Tim get along with Ron; you know they really look up to him."_ Kim smiled and nodded. It was good to know her whole family approved of Ron, even her little brothers. Ron had always been a good friend to everyone, including those two, and he could often relate to them when she could not.

* * *

"_Damn it, Kim! That was one of the few things you promised me you would do before the wedding…"_

"_He was my boyfriend, Ron! You have no right to tell me how or when I should have broken up with him!"_ Kim covered her mouth, realizing she had just said something completely wrong.

Ron gave Kim his best death glare, turned on his heel and walked out, leaving a now crying Kim sitting on her bed. She heard the front door slam as he headed out to wherever he was going.

'Ron was pissed' would have been an understatement. Sure, they had had arguments before, but this was an epic one, and Ron was right; it was her fault. Three days after Christmas, Kim had to deal with what she had known was coming for a while now. Josh Mankey had shown up on the Possible doorstep, asking to see his girlfriend. Ron had been quit as Kim quickly ushered Josh outside to break up with him and explain everything; when she returned, she and Ron had gone up to her room to 'discuss' things. When she and Ron had gotten engaged, Kim had promised to break up with Josh before the wedding. Since then Ron had not asked about it, but trusted that Kim had broken the news to him. She had procrastinated though, not knowing what to tell Josh. She had hoped to catch him at school when they returned after Christmas, but miscalculated, forgetting that he would probably want to see her sometime during the break.

Josh had been fairly understanding about it. Since Kim had been avoiding him, and she had stopped hanging out with him weeks before; he had seen the writing on the wall. Kim told him that she did not think things were working out, that she just did not have fun with him when they were not on a date. Really, she would have broken up with him even if she and Ron had not gotten married; they just did not seem compatible. She neglected to tell him that Ron and she were now married; they had agreed to not break the news 'til after graduation if at all possible. Ron had been fine with all that, but he was not happy about the fact Kim had not done what she needed to do with Josh before the wedding. He had gotten mad and said some things he didn't mean about her not keeping promises and lying, and Kim had gotten mad right back. Her comment about 'him being her boyfriend' had done it for Ron. She should not have even had a boyfriend at that point anyway, and as her husband he had every right.

Ron walked the neighborhood for nearly an hour before he stopped in the park to sit and think a while. He was right about her not breaking up with Josh, but he should have not gotten so mad about it. Everything had happened so fast, he really could not blame her so much. If it had been him, he could not say he wouldn't have done the same thing, but he was still a little angry at her. She could have at least warned him. Ron went home; it was late, and he did not think Kim was still up, so he decided it would be best to camp out on the couch. Kim was up though, and she heard him come in. After a while, since she had still not seen him, she went downstairs to see how he was.

"_Ron?"_ Kim asked in a shaky voice as she entered the den. Ron was curled up on the couch; she could tell he was not asleep. She walked up to him and sat on the edge of the couch; he was positioned with his face towards the back.

"_Ron…please talk to me."_ He just 'harrumphed' and turned further into the cushion.

"_Ron, I'm sorry. You were right; I should have told him before the wedding…I just didn't know what to say…please don't be mad at me. I love you."_ Kim said meekly. Despite his best efforts, Ron could never stay mad at Kim. He sighed and turned around to look at her. It was dark, but he could still see she had been crying. It hurt to yell at her like he did; he had never been much of a fighter, and it hurt him even more to make her cry, even if he had been right.

"_Kim, I can't stay mad at you…I'm sorry …I didn't mean everything I said."_ He held open his arms and she fell onto him, hugging him, it seemed, for her life.

"_I was so afraid you wouldn't come back."_ Kim said, pulling herself into his chest.

"_Kim…you know I would never leave over a stupid argument."_ Ron looked at her with a 'you already know this' look, and she nodded, looking embarrassed.

"_So, are we alright?"_

"_Yeah, KP, were alright."_ She reached down and kissed him.

"_Come on then, let's go to bed."_ Kim smiled, pulling Ron to his feet and leading towards the stairs. _"We have some making up to do."_ She whispered, grinning at him.

Mrs. Possible smiled and reached over to turn out the light as she heard them head toward Kim's room. The family had stayed out of this argument, feeling it was best if the two worked it out on their own. Jim and Tim had run to their room as soon as the yelling had started, and she and Mr. Possible had kept away from both teens. If they were going to work as a couple, they would have to figure out how to get though without constant advice from their parents. She rolled over and kissed her husband goodnight before slipping off to sleep.

* * *

"_Ahhhh!"_ Kim yelled, nearly jumping a foot off the bed as she was startled awake by a jabbering naked mole rat sitting on her forehead. 

"_Rufus! What are you doing?"_ She said as the bald rat darted over to Ron's head, pulling his hair, trying to wake the boy. Rufus responded by pointing to the clock and then the calendar. Kim realized what he was getting at. It was the first day of school for the spring semester, and he was trying to get them both up so they would not be late. Kim flopped back down on the pillow with a groan. Other then their fight, she and Ron had a wonderful holiday and Kim really did not want to have to go back to school. On the plus side though, it was their last semester before they would graduate! She rolled over to see Rufus had little luck waking her husband, who had always slept like a rock.

"_Why don't you let me try, Rufus?"_ Kim said, patting the little guy on the head. He scurried to the windowsill as Kim edged up behind Ron.

"_Yahhhh…that's cold!"_ Ron yelped as Kim's touch startled him from sleep. Kim giggled as she removed her feet from his butt. Kim had always had cold feet in bed, and in the last two weeks, she had discovered them very effective in waking up Ron.

"_Come on, Ron, it's time to get up; we have to go to school today."_

"_Ahh…no school! No school!"_ Ron said from the behind the pillow he had pulled in front of his face.

* * *

"_Kim Possible, you are such a loser! Why on earth would you dump Josh Mankey! I bet it was for that loser Stoppable."_ Bonnie sneered as Kim entered the gym for cheerleading practice after another long day at Middleton High. It had been two weeks since they had started school again, and today was Friday. Kim and Ron had done well keeping their marriage a secret so far, but Kim was getting tired of not being able to treat Ron like more than a friend. She had found that she really did like the idea of them as a couple, and in the few weeks they had been married, she had grown to love the affection he showed for her, and likewise she returned it. But most of all, she hated Bonnie Rockwaller's taunts and jeers at Ron's expense. It was nothing new, but Kim had taken more notice in the past two weeks and had taken particular offense to how Bonnie specifically went after Ron every chance she got. 

"_So what if I did break up with Josh, Bonnie? Why do you care, and what do you have against Ron? He is a perfectly good person; why do you pick on him all the time? Why do you care about either of us anyway; you already don't like both of us."_ Kim said, getting angry and emphasizing her point by pointing her finger at the girl with each question.

"_I don't care! I'm just merely pointing out that you, who should be near the top of the food chain, below me, of course, hang out with an ultra loser like Stoppable, AND you gave up one of the hottest guys in school! It just looks funny to me."_ Bonnie replied, flipping her hair and walking off. Kim just growled her direction, and looked around at where Ron had just walked in, and with his mascot costume on, he had not heard a word of what Bonnie said.

"_Alright people, let's get practice started!"_ Kim yelled to the group as they assembled for the practice, letting Bonnie's sass slide for the moment.

* * *

Kim emerged from the locker room a few moments after practice had ended, dressed in her clothes from that day. She stood in the doorway for a moment, noting, for some reason that most of the cheerleaders were still hanging around the gym. She had not taken long to change, but normally most of them would have left by now. She spotted Ron across the gym with his back turned to the group, carefully putting away his handmade 'Middleton Mad Dog' costume and began to walk towards him. As soon as she started walking his direction though, she noticed someone else walking towards him as well: An angry looking Bonnie, who was already much closer to him than she. 

"_Stoppable!"_ Bonnie yelled as she approached the unsuspecting boy, Ron whirled to find a mad looking Bonnie pointing her finger at him and walking his way.

"_What can I do for you, Bon-Bon?"_ Ron asked, plastering a friendly grin on his face, hoping whatever Bonnie was going to bitch at him about would pass.

"_Don't play dumb with me, Ron! I know you're the one who made Kim breakup with Josh, and as much as I don't care what you do, it has reflected on the whole squad. Not to mention the fact that Kim should be near the top of the food chain, but she isn't just because she hangs around with you!"_ Bonnie roared. _"Well, since she won't do anything about you, loser…I will."_ Kim stopped for a minute, dumbstruck. Bonnie was attacking Ron because she thought he made her breakup with Josh?

"_What are you talking about Bonnie? I…"_ Ron stammered, not knowing what to make of the situation. Bonnie had always been mean, but she had never actually come after him before, verbally or physically. The rest of the cheerleaders stood dumbfounded, like Kim. Bonnie had been bitching about Ron just a moment ago to them, but none of them thought that she would actually do anything.

"_Shut up! You are the lowest worm on the food chain! You are stupid, ugly, and annoying, and you should feel honored to even be friends with a cheerleader outside of school, but I'm NOT going to let you ruin all of our reputations by letting you hang around with us at school! From now on, I don't ever want to see your face around here, or in classes, or even in the hallway! You will not come to games; you will not be mascot; and you will not even come to your stupid Bueno Nacho when I am there!"_ Bonnie had gotten in his face at this point and was poking him in the chest with her extended index finger when she made every point. Kim's blood was boiling. How dare she talk to Ron like that! How dare she threaten, or even touch him! She started to stalk her way from where she was over to the two.

"_Bonnie, I don't think…"_ Ron stammered again. He concluded that something was very wrong with Bonnie; she had never done anything like this before, and he had not done anything to make her angry.

"_I SAID, SHUT UP!"_ Bonnie screamed at Ron. Then she did something nobody ever thought she would do. Bonnie Rockwaller reared back and slapped Ron with enough force to nearly knock him over. Bonnie looked at her hand, then back at Ron, shocked. Ron looked back at her just as shocked, and all the other cheerleaders just stood there slack jawed. Kim saw red.

Kim was in a full tilt run when she caught hold of Bonnie's shirt. She planted one leg and twisted her body around as she came to a stop, whirling the girl with her and letting go just at the right moment to send Bonnie flying across the gym, skidding to a stop on the waxed, wooden floor. Kim immediately launched into a set of somersaults after the sliding girl, coming to a stop just in front of her. She quickly knelt down to where Bonnie was struggling to get up and grasped the girl by the shirt, hauling her up to eye level.

"_Don't you ever…ever touch Ron again! He has done nothing, but be nice to you since we met, and all you ever do is cut him down, and tell him what a loser he is! He is not a loser; he is the best man I know, and if I ever see you lay a finger on him again, I'll tear you limb from limb. You got that?"_ An extremely terrified Bonnie weakly nodded.

"_You want to know why I broke up with Josh? Well, I'll tell you. I broke up with Josh because he and I just did not get along. He is boring; he does not talk, and he's not really that great of a kisser. As for Ron, he is a wonderful guy. He likes to talk; he can make me laugh, and for your information, he is a great kisser! But you'll never get to experience that because he's taken already. I'm not afraid to say it, and I just wish I realized it sooner, but Ron is my husband, and I love him!" _She then dropped the terrified girl the ground, who landed with a thump on the floor of the completely silent gym. Kim had yelled her entire speech to Bonnie, and a speechless cheer squad and husband now stared at the teen hero.


	7. Training

A note to JPMod – No. This story is taking place as if "So the Drama" did not occur. I am working as if Kim got back together with Josh the summer before senior year, and all this begins to take place at the closing of that summer, and runs through Kim and Ron's senior year of high school. I do make reference to Kim's "we grew apart" comment from 'Emotion Sickness' with the fact that Ron is angry about her and Josh getting back together when he though he was rid of the boy after their sophomore year.

I know I'm spending a lot of time developing Kim and Ron's relationship, and I make no excuses for it. To me it is a major part of the story, and interests me. I will be putting in more action and 'bring the war to them' (as one might be able to surmise by the content of this chapter) with the next few installments. After this chapter the story will take a darker turn, but don't expect me to drop the humor completely; even in the darkest hours of man humor has always been an effective and necessary release for physiological tension.

Once again thanks to my reviewers, and my Beta Reader, daywalkr82.

**

* * *

Chapter Seven Training**

"_Umm…KP…Kim, honey…"_ Ron whispered nervously as he placed a hand on Kim's shoulder. She turned to meet his eyes, still breathing heavily.

"_Oops…"_ She whispered back to him, quickly calming and registering that in her tirade she had revealed what they had been trying to keep a secret. Kim and Ron both turned to face the silent cheer squad as they stood huddled together behind the three. Bonnie was just sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest with her head buried in them.

"_Umm…I'm sorry about that. This is not really how Ron and I wanted to have everybody find out about us…"_ Kim began. She nervously glanced between Ron and the squad.

"_KP, why don't you take the squad out and talk to them while I try and get Bonnie calmed down."_ Ron whispered to her.

"_Are you crazy, Ron? She just tried to attack you, and you want to talk to her?" _

"_Look, KP, something is wrong. You know Bonnie; did you honestly ever think she would actually attack me? The way she looked after she slapped me, I don't think she meant to do it."_ She gave him a look like he was crazy, but nodded after looking at Bonnie, who had started to sob, and at the cheer squad, who looked like they weren't going anywhere until they got some answerers.

"_Alright, Ron, I'll talk to them, but give me a call if she tries something again."_ Ron nodded, and Kim left, quickly urging the remaining cheerleaders into the locker room with her. She had a lot of explaining to do.

"_Bonnie?"_ Ron said, kneeling down beside the girl.

"_Go away! I don't want to talk to you."_

"_Bonnie, come on, I know you did not mean to slap me. Tell me what's going on."_

"_No."_ Bonnie stopped sobbing and looked up at Ron.

"_Why do you want to help me? I just attacked you."_ She asked after a minute of silence between them.

"_Look, Bonnie, you and I have never really gotten along, but that does not mean we can't at least be civil with each other. The way you looked at me after you slapped me…well, you looked like you didn't mean to do it."_

"_Look, I'm sorry I slapped you…I just…after I heard about Kim and Josh, I just got angry, and I needed someone to vent on."_

"_Why would you get angry about Kim and Josh?"_ Ron asked, looking confused. Bonnie looked guilty.

"_Look, I just don't want to talk about it...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you…just leave me alone…"_

"_Bonnie, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on; you need to get this out."_ Ron sighed and gave her a goofy grin, trying to lighten her mood_. "Besides, I don't want you 'venting' on me again."_

Bonnie gave a slight chuckle. _"Don't count on it."_ She gave a deep sigh, and then looked back at the boy, who had taken a seat beside her on the gym floor.

"_I'm only telling you this because I owe you and explanation, you and Kim are still both losers. Just because the three of us don't get along does not mean I want you to hate me though."_ Ron nodded an indication for her to continue.

"_Has Kim ever told you anything about my parents or my sisters?" _Bonnie questioned, Kim had met Connie and Lonnie, and they had both met her mother, but as far as Bonnie knew nobody at school (save a few) had met her father, or ever seen them all together.

"_No, she never mentioned it." _Ron replied, remembering the Mt. Middleton experience where he had met Bonnie's mother.

"_The reason nobody ever sees my dad is because he is a captain in the U.S. Navy. I don't get to see him for months at a time, and every time I do…it's just…it seem like he always forgets about me. When he goes off on his tours, he gets letters that mom writes, and Connie and Lonnie are always doing some great thing, and I never get mentioned because I never do anything as great as them…and when he comes home, he just forgets about me." _ Bonnie looked like she was going to break down again by the time she finished, but she took a minute to breathe and continued again.

"_Now, with this war and all, I don't ever get to see him; he might die out there, and ships are disappearing every day. And now Brick has decided that he is going to go off right after graduation and join the army. I tried to talk him out of it, but the big idiot is dead set on this. He just goes on and on about how his dad was in the army and he has to serve and all this stuff…and it's just not fair! Kim's dad already works for the government, and he's a scientist so he'll be safe, and she had Josh, who makes good enough grades not to get drafted, and does not want to go off anyway. And all I'm left with is two sisters, who hate me, and my mom, who forgets about me. I just got so angry when I heard that she just gave Josh up. She has the perfect life, and she has no right just letting a guy like that go, when I know my Dad and my boyfriend might never come back."_ Bonnie ended, nearly shouting. She had a glazed look in her eyes, as if she had forgotten all about Ron sitting there, and was just ranting to herself. After a minute of catching her breath, she looked over at Ron, and they sat there in silence for a minute.

"_I'm sorry, Bonnie; I did not know about all that."_ Ron just gave her a sympathetic look. He would have told her it was his fault Josh and Kim broke up, but they had discussed it when they decided not to tell the general public about their marriage. Kim insisted that their marriage was only something that moved that decision up; she would have broken up with Josh anyway. They sat for a few more minutes until Bonnie spoke again.

"_So…what's all this about you being Kim's husband?"_ She asked, which sounded more like a demand than a question to Ron. He just sighed and collected his thoughts for a moment. He would have to tell her anyway, Kim had let the cat out of the bag now, so there was no turning back.

"_It's the truth Bonnie. We are married."_ Ron reached around his neck, removing a silver chain at the end of which dangled his wedding band. He and Kim had taken to wearing them like this when they started school again, that way they always had them, but could hide them from the public. He carefully removed the band, slipping it on his finger, and then replaced the chain around his neck.

"_Kim and I got married over Christmas break. Just before the break, I received a draft notice; I don't have the grades, and I can't work for Global Justice until I'm twenty-one, and Kim…well, we made the decision to get married."_

"_So this is just some stupid draft dodging plan? You're going to get a divorce when you turn twenty-one! I can't believe…" _Bonnie nearly spat at Ron. Being a military child, Bonnie already had distaste for those who put down servicemen, but draft dodgers were even lower in her book.

"_No!"_ Ron cut her off_. "I don't know if you can understand this, but, you see, Kim and I…we can't live without each other. This is for real; we are not planning on getting a divorce or anything else. I really do feel bad about not going. But I love Kim, and I would do anything she asked. She asked me to stay, so I stayed." _Ron explained; his tone was serious and forceful.Bonnie just gave him a strange look, as if trying to digest all the information. She and most people actually had rarely ever seen Ron forceful or mad, but he was serious about this, and judging by Kim's reaction, she was too. Ron sensed their conversation was over, and got up to find Kim.

"_Ron."_ He turned to look back at Bonnie, who had gotten up as well.

"_I'm sorry about all that…thanks…you know…for listening, and good luck, with Kim, I mean."_ Bonnie got a little smirk on her face. _"This doesn't mean you and Kim are not still losers, though." _Ron smiled and gave her a nod. Bonnie really was some piece of work. She was hateful, mean, vengeful, and a handful of other colorful euphemisms, but every once in a while she showed a spark of compassion; and in those moments, she actually could be nice.

* * *

"_So what do you want to do? We can't just threaten them all into keeping their mouths shut, and eventually we'll have to tell everyone anyway."_ Ron asked Kim. The cheer squad was re-assembled in the gym, and Kim and Ron were talking about what to do now that their secret was out. They could ask the cheer squad to keep it secret, but unless they agreed, there was no guarantee that it would work, or they could just go ahead and announce their marriage to the world. That was risky, however, based on the fact Ron had been drafted, and they did this to keep him from going off; not to mention the fact that they were so young, and still in high school. 

"_I don't know, Ron." _Replied Kim; she really could not decide in this situation. Both options were less than perfect, but both were reasonable.

"_Umm…Kim, Ron?"_ Bonnie spoke up, coming to the front of the group of cheerleaders. Earlier, Bonnie had apologized to Kim, who remained suspicious, but accepted it anyway. Since then, she had been talking to the rest of the squad while Ron and Kim conferred.

"_Yes?"_ Both asked, turning to her.

"_Look, we know you both are not really ready to have everyone know about your marriage, so the rest of the squad and I agree that, if you want us to, we won't tell anybody."_ Ron and Kim looked at each other and then back at Bonnie. It had surprised both of them that she had agreed to such a prospect; they thought she would want to take every chance to rub it in that Kim was married to a 'loser'.

"_Ok…alright, I guess if you all are willing to keep our secret, then we'll try it."_ Kim said, nodding at her fellow squad members, who nodded back, and then an uncomfortable silence followed for a minute. Nobody really knew what else to say.

"_Alright, everybody, we are going to head home, so I guess we'll see you at tomorrow's practice."_ Kim said. People nodded and started grabbing their things and leaving. Kim and Ron both heaved a sigh of relief at dodging a major slip-up. Kim gave a little smile for the fact that, at least during cheer practice, she could show some affection towards Ron.

"_Hey, K."_ Bonnie called from the exit doors, turning around to address Kim and Ron, who were walking over towards the bleachers to get their things. Kim just looked up at her.

"_Just so you know…you're an even bigger loser now that you are married to one."_ Kim scowled at her, and Bonnie just gave a smirk and walked out. Ron chuckled.

"_Well, at least we can count on Bonnie to always be the same."_ Ron said, putting his arm around his wife and giving her a grin.

* * *

"_Hey Wade, what's the sitch?"_ Kim asked as she flipped out her Kimmunicator. It had been a few days since they last heard from Wade about a mission or anything, and while Kim still loved saving the world, she had become glad that they did not have as many missions right now. One, she did not want to get caught up in the war in any way. And two, it gave her and Ron a chance to bond as a couple a little more; not that they were not already great friends, but some things change when you become a couple, and they were still adjusting. 

"_Hey, Kim, this really isn't a current mission related call, per se, but it is something I want to talk with you and Ron about. Is he around by the way?"_

"_He's in the kitchen helping his mom prepare dinner; I'll go get him."_ Kim said, standing up and heading into the Stoppable kitchen. Kim and Ron were staying with Ron's parents for a couple of weeks, and this was one of the rare occasions where both his parents and Kim and Ron were all home at the same time, so they were going to have a family dinner together. Kim had been helping earlier, but after an incident that caused her, Mrs. Stoppable, and Ron to be covered in flour, she had been ordered to go take a break.

"_Ron."_ Kim said as she poked her head in the kitchen.

"_Yes, dear?"_

"_Wade wants to talk to both of us about something mission related; can you spare a minute?"_

"_Ok…oh! I hope he got us some cool new gadgets, you know; I really need some of my own…"_ Ron started to gush as he thought of all the 'cool stuff' Wade usually came up with…that he was not allowed to use.

"_Ron, don't make me give you the talk about the fingernail polish incident again."_ Kim chided with a slight grin. Ron just grumbled as they walked into the living room and got situated on the couch for whatever Wade had to tell them.

"_Alright, guys, you know that with the war and all, terrorist attacks and the like have been increasing around the country. So far, they have been mainly attacking government buildings, military bases, power plants, and a few banks. The government and space center are concerned that with the increasing attack and riots sprouting up around the country that the attacks will only get more severe and that they will eventually expand to attacking scientific facilities as well. Chiefly, what they are cornered with are suitcase nukes, and dirty bombs which can be left in a bag or car or something, unseen."_

"_Ok…so what does that have to do with us?"_ Asked Kim.

"_Here's the deal. The government is shorthanded in all areas right now. With the war going on, many soldiers, C.I.A., F.B.I., and Global Justice Agents are spread across the country and world right now. So, they are concerned that even if these weapons can be located that they do not have the manpower or the knowledge necessary in many parts of the country to defuse and deactivate the devices. They have a proposition for Team Possible. If we will provide our training facilities as a location to train a group for defusing and deactivating these devices, they will pay for all expenses, provide all the materials for the training, and pay all three of us a salary. You two will naturally be included in the group which will consist of about twelve other people from around the country. I will help perfect the instruments going in a satellite designed to locate incendiary devices."_ Ron and Kim blinked and then looked at each other and then back at Wade.

"_Well…what do you think, Wade?"_ Kim asked.

"_I say we go for it. You can use the training for your other missions, and you could save a lot of lives, and we could use the money to do some improvements to the base and your arsenal."_

"_I don't know, Kim, I mean, it'd be great and all to have some more money and to be able to dismantle a bomb, but it sounds kind of dangerous to me. I mean, it's cool and all that they want us to help, but I think it may be a little dangerous to be dismantling an atomic bomb."_ Said Ron, looking nervous. He could understand Wade's point, but putting yourself at more risk than you had to just wasn't smart to him.

"_Hmm…Well, we could use the training, but on the other hand I do agree with Ron; it is kind of taking on more risk than we have to."_ Kim said, tapping her chin in thought. Wade, and for once, Ron, both had good points; she had to consider this carefully; she took her time and after a few minutes of thinking, she finally answered.

"_I think we should do it. If somebody does happen to plant one of those things around us, we won't be safe anyway, and if we can get some training that may help save hundreds, maybe thousands of lives, I think it's worth it."_ Kim said looking at Ron, then at Wade.

"_Ok, Kim, I'll call up the general that contacted me about it. The training should start during your spring break, in a week. You will train during that week with the others, then once school starts back, you'll train two days a week, and on weekends. It should take about a month to complete. Wade out."_ Wade said, cutting off the Kimmunicator. Kim looked at Ron, who nodded, but was still frowning and scratching the back of his neck. Something was bothering him about this, Kim could tell. As he got up to rejoin his mother in the kitchen, she grabbed his hand.

"_Ron, what's the matter?"_

"_Look, KP, I will go with whatever you decide on this…it's just…I'm afraid that one of us might get killed. And I don't want that, I mean we just got together and…I love you…I just don't want you to die."_ Ron said, trying to hide the emotions on his face.

Kim just melted a little. Her husband had to be the sweetest man alive; he was just worried about her safety. She reached out and pulled him into a hug.

"_Ron, I know it's dangerous, but this is our chance to save a lot of lives, besides there is no guarantee that we will even have to deactivate any bomb; it's just precautionary."_ She reached up and kissed him_. "I love you too, and I know how you feel, but don't worry, we'll be in it together, ok?"_ Kim gave him a reassuring squeeze and another kiss, and Ron smiled at her. She was right, whatever happened, they would do it together. Ron nodded, and turned to walk back into the kitchen. Just as he pushed the door open, Kim reached out and gave his butt a hard pinch.

"_KP!"_ He said, turning red and whirling around to see his wife giggling at him.

"_Oh, come on, Ron, you're just so cute when you're worried, plus I like your butt."_ She gave him a grin and a wink as she sauntered out of the room, towards the bathroom to wash-up for dinner.

"_Oh, Mrs. Stoppable, you'll pay for that one later!"_ He called suggestively after her.

* * *

"_Possible!"_ Mr. Barkin howled from across the gym as the burst through the doors late during an after school cheer practice. 

"_Ahh…hey Mr. Barkin, what's the sitch?"_ Kim asked as the administrator marched up to her just as she was about to dismiss the cheer squad for the evening.

"_Good, I caught you and your fellow squad members before you dismissed. Here's the situation, Miss Possible. With the condition that the city and country are in right now, during this time of war, there has been a jump in the crime in Middleton. I would like to personally ask you if you would consider teaching your fellow cheer squad members some self defense moves with which they can protect themselves while they are outside these walls. What do you say?"_

"_Well umm…I guess that would be a good idea. We could devote one of our regular practice times a week to self defense training instead of practice, since football season is over."_

"_Good show, Miss Possible, and tell Stoppable to come too; you could use him to demonstrate on."_ Mr. Barkin said, giving Ron a look as he was standing over to the side with his Mad Dog head in his hands. Barkin turned and walked out leaving a slightly confused Kim and cheer squad.

"_Well, gang, you heard it. Next week, we will start taking one day of practice to do some self defense training, I think Wednesday would be a good day to start, so show up wearing athletic clothing."_ Kim said, grabbing their attention. Ron walked over to Kim as everyone left the gym.

"_Ah man…all we are going to be doing for the next few weeks is training."_ Ron whined as they walked towards the exit.

"_It's better than missions all the time. At least, this will leave us with some time off in the evenings."_ Kim retorted. Ron smiled and took her hand as they walked out. She was right about that, missions normally had no time limit, so they usually got in late, tired, and just hoping to grab a few hours of sleep before school. At least, with both the training programs, they would be getting done with enough time to enjoy evenings together.

"_You know, with all the combat training we've been doing lately you might not be demonstrating on me, I might be demonstrating on you!"_ Ron quipped. Kim just got a smug smile.

"_Bring it on, potential boy, just like last night, you won't last long."_ Ron turned a bright shade of crimson at his wife's comment.

"_Hey!"_ Ron protested. Kim giggled and gave him a wink.

"_You know I'm just kidding Ron…you were great last night."_ Since their marriage, the humor between them had taken a somewhat suggestive turn when they were alone. It was strange at first, but lately it had become almost freeing. As a couple, they could now talk about a lot more than they could have as best friends. Granted, they had been very close best friends, and if either had needed to, they would have been willing to listen to a certain amount, but there had always been a line neither dared to cross. Now, the line was erased, and they had been exploring how much closer they could be as husband and wife. It was nice, sometimes awkward, sometimes funny, and sometimes even maddening. They were best friends; they could laugh, and joke and have fun, just the same as they would have before, but now it was deeper, and even more meaningful.


	8. Fear

Ok, I know this took a while, and I apologize for that, school comes first, and I'm trying graduate this year….finally. Thanks again to daywalkr82, and all my readers and reviewers.

**

* * *

Chapter Eight Fear**

"_You know, K, I wonder if your sub-par performance in practice yesterday is a reflection of your performance in bed? Of course, I could always ask Ron, but he's such a loser he wouldn't know the difference anyway."_ Bonnie taunted Kim as the cheerleaders assembled in the gym for their first self defense course taught by Kim and Ron. Kim and Ron had both thought the whole incident with Ron would have resulted in Bonnie being more civil towards them, at least in cheer practice. Bonnie, however, had only become more cryptic in her taunts, especially taking joy in making side comments to Kim about her marriage and comments about relationships and losers in public.

"_Bonnie…our sex life is none of your business!"_ Kim growled at the girl through her teeth. Bonnie was pushing it today, and if she did not watch it, she might just 'accidentally' get thrown during a demonstration.

"_Ohh…touchy."_ Bonnie retorted as she sauntered off to join the other arriving cheerleaders on the bleachers. Kim calmed down a bit and smoothed the white gi she was wearing. She could not let Bonnie get to her; she and Ron were about to put on a martial arts demonstration for the rest of the cheerleaders and a few other girls who wanted to join in the training, and she needed to remain focused.

"_Oh, hey, girl!"_ Monique said happily as she bounded up to Kim upon entering the gym.

"_Hey, Mon, what are you doing here?"_ Kim asked as she turned to face her friend.

"_Well, I saw the flyers for your little course in the hall and I decided I wanted to come. I might be a strong, independent woman, but it never hurts to learn a little bit more about protecting myself; plus if we ever get in a fight, I need to be able to counter your teen hero moves."_ Monique added with a sly grin, remembering the time she and Kim nearly fought over Hirotaka. Kim blushed, remembering the incident; now she felt really stupid for fighting over him, considering over the past two months, she had fallen hard for her husband and best friend.

"_Ok, Mon, why don't you go grab a seat; I think everybody is about here, and Ron and I are going to put on a demonstration you don't want to miss."_ Kim smiled, thinking about how much fun she was going to have sparring with Ron in front of people. First, they were going to demonstrate basic defense moves. Ron would serve as the aggressor, and Kim would counter his advances. Then, they would demonstrate the best ways to use basic weapons. (Weapons being mace, keys, and a tire iron.) That demonstration would only be slow movements, no strikes. To end the session, they would have a full out sparing session to show the others what they could do if they wanted to pursue martial arts or defense training further. After they were done, they would do some basic group training. They would save individual practice and training for next week.

"_Alright, everybody, listen up! In just a moment, we will get started, but first I would like to introduce the other instructor and my demonstration partner for the course: Ron Stoppable."_ Kim yelled to the group, getting their attention and indicating for Ron to get up off the nearby bleacher where he had been sitting. There were some snickers and conversation from the audience as Ron, dressed in a white gi like Kim, came running up, smiling and waving; Rufus was perched on his head waving too.

"_Are you ready, Ron?"_ Kim asked her husband as he came up beside her on the mat.

"_As ready as I'll ever be. Alright, buddy, go find Monique."_ Ron addressed Rufus as he gently took the naked mole rat off his head and put him on the floor so he could sit and watch with Monique as he and Kim sparred. Ron and Kim had continued their combat practice and martial arts training on a weekly basis since the mission on their honeymoon, and while Kim was prone to taking out her frustrations on Ron in practice, she had managed to stay reasonably calm with Ron, who had improved a lot since they started. The same could be said for Kim's cooking, although she still had lots of problems with batter.

"_In this demonstration, the aggressor, Ron, will try to grab me from behind. Watch closely as I grab him by the arm, shifting my weight to help throw him over my shoulder."_ Kim instructed as Ron set up behind her. Ron broke into a run, making so that he could grab Kim by the waist, but as he lunged, Kim whirled, grabbed his arm, and shifting her weight and using his momentum, she threw him over her opposite shoulder. With a yelp, Ron went sailing over her head and landed on his back a few feet away, grunting as he hit the ground.

"_You know you're going to owe me a long back massage when we get home tonight, dear."_ Ron whispered as he pulled himself off the mat and set up beside Kim for the next demonstration.

"_Oh, don't be such a big baby, Ron; you fall worse than that on most of our missions."_ Kim replied, grinning at him. She would give him the massage anyway, but while she could, she was going to have fun with this.

* * *

"_Alright, KP, I guess I'm ready for this."_ Ron said as he finished his stretching and returned to the mat. For the last hour, they had been demonstrating self defense moves and basic weapons. They had taken a short break to let everyone go to get some water, and so Kim and Ron could rest, and now, they were going to have a full out sparring session. 

"_You know I'm not going to hold anything back, right, Ron?"_ Kim asked, grinning as she bowed and assumed her defense stance.

"_Yeah, yeah, I know you'll just 'visualize Shego if I start complaining'. Same thing you say every time."_ Ron mocked with a grin himself as he returned her bow and assumed a stance himself. Despite their jeering and taunts, Kim and Ron had both held back during their sparing session with one another; pulling punches, softening blows, etc…mainly because they did not want to actually hurt the other if they landed a hit. As Ron's confidence and skill grew, Kim had found she needed to hold back less and less. She was still much better than Ron, mainly due to her agility and experience, but he was still fairly fast and made up for the lack of experience with his male upper body strength.

They began to circle each other on the mat, watching for signs of fatigue or holes in each other's defenses. Kim could readily tell that Ron was favoring his left side, and looked a little tired, most definitely from the fact that for the first hour of demonstration, he had taken a great majority of the damage. She would be careful of his injuries, and noted to herself that she would have to properly thank him later. As Kim was taking note of these things, Ron saw a hole to attack. Using her distracted thoughts to his advantage, he moved in and executed a leg sweep. It did not take Kim as much by surprise as he intended though. She merely did a back flip to avoid his advance and returned with a kick towards his head. Ron dodged then rolled into a quick jab at her side, which she countered with an arm block. The fight continued, and much to everyone's surprise, Ron was fighting in top form, landing hits on Kim and even besting her at times. Kim's agility and experience coupled with his fatigue finally got the best of him though, and after ten minutes of fighting, Kim took him down for the count with a quick jab to the stomach and a leg sweep that landed him flat on his back.

"_Alright...I give, you win."_ Ron said as he groaned, rolling around on his back.

"_Are you alright, Ron?"_ Kim asked, leaning over him to make sure she did not do any permanent damage. Suddenly, he covered his face and started rolling around and moaning.

"_Ron, are you ok...Ron?"_ Kim started to get worried when he would not look at her. She kneeled down and tried to remove his hands from his face. _"Ron! Come on, honey, let me see."_ Suddenly, he stopped rolling around, and all she heard was breathing.

"_Boo!"_ Ron yelled at her as he lunged forward, whipping his hands away from his face.

"_Ahh!"_ Screamed Kim as she reared back, startled, causing her to lose her balance and land on her butt. Ron was rolling on the floor, laughing with the audience. Kim turned red and gave Ron an 'I'm mad at you' look. As she finally got back to her feet, the laughter began to die and Ron got up, tears still in his eyes from the laughing fit.

"_You should have seen your face, KP; it was priceless."_

"_Oh, you'll see what's going to be priceless when I get you back for this."_ Kim replied angrily and pointing her finger. She would not stay mad long, and they would laugh about it later, but he knew she'd get him back for this…somehow. Kim turned to stalk off to the locker room after she had dismissed the class and Ron ran after her.

"_Oh, come on Kim…it was just a joke."_

* * *

"_Hey, Kim! Why aren't you walking home with Ron?"_ Felix asked as he wheeled up beside Kim, his own girlfriend in tow. 

"_Oh, hey, Felix, Crystal. Ron ran on ahead to his house, and I'm on my way to mine; we have a date tonight, and we need to get ready separately."_ Explained Kim; it was the Friday of Spring Break, and since they would be spending the whole break training, they had decided to go on a date tonight.

"_You and Ron Stoppable are dating!"_ Crystal asked, a bit taken aback; Kim had forgotten that she was not in on their secret.

"_Well, sort of…"_ Kim said nervously. Felix gave her a grin and a wink, amused by her predicament.

"_I'll see you guys later, got to get home and get ready you know."_ Kim said, exiting the situation quickly as she ran off towards her house. Felix just chuckled, and Crystal gave him a strange look.

"_Where's Ron?"_ Jim asked from the living room as Kim burst through the front door of her family's home.

"_You didn't have another fight, did you?"_ Asked Tim, who was standing beside his brother.

"_No, we didn't, Ron's at his house getting ready for our date tonight."_ Kim replied to her brothers' questions. Normally, she would be annoyed by just about anything they said, but since Ron and she had wed, they had actually become tolerable. Whether it was because they liked Ron or because she spent less time at home than ever before, Kim did not know. Maybe she was jumping the gun with the 'tolerable' part.

"_Oh, Ron, I love you soooo much."_ Jim said, imitating his sister and making a kissy face.

"_Ron, you are so great…"_ Tim imitated as well.

"_Can it, tweebs! I'm in a hurry."_ Kim said, pushing past her brothers and heading up to her room.

"_If Mom or Dad want to know where I am, just tell them I'm getting ready."_ Kim called on her way up to her room. Ron was coming to pick her up at half past six, and she had to get ready.

* * *

Ron rapped on the door to the Possible home at six thirty sharp, which was an unusual occurrence for him. Not knocking on the Possibles' door… well anymore it was because he lived there; part of the time …anyway….it was unusual because he was actually on time. 

"_Can someone get that? It's Ron!"_ Kim yelled from upstairs while trying to find her other shoe as Ron knocked a second time. She had not expected him to actually be on time, but for once, he was actually punctual, and she was not quite ready.

"_We'll get it."_ The twins yelled from the living room, readying the mind control chip they had 'acquired' from Dr. Bortel's collection last time they had been on a mission with Kim and Ron.

"_Hey, you two!"_ Ron said cheerily as they opened the door and let him in.

"_Hey, Ron, can we tell you a secret?"_ Tim asked as he walked into the foyer.

"_Ok…I guess."_ Ron said, a little perplexed by their request.

"_Bend down here, I gotta whisper it to you."_ Jim said, motioning for Ron to bend down so he could whisper in his ear. Tim got a large grin as Ron bent over towards Jim.

"_Boys…"_ Mrs. Dr. Possible said sternly from the doorway as she spied her son getting ready to chip her son-in-law as he leaned down to the other one.

"_Ahh!"_ All three yelled and nearly jumped out of their skin at her entrance. Ron stood up and looked at Mrs. Dr. Possible, then at Jim, then Tim, noticing the chip between the latter's thumb and index finger. The twins looked at each other.

"_Hick-a-bicka-boo?"_

"_Hoo-sha."_ They said nervously to one another and ran off towards their room, flying past Kim as she was coming out of her room.

"_Thanks for the save, Mrs. Dr. P."_ Ron said, scratching his neck and looking back at Mrs. Possible.

"_Anytime, Ron…and you know you can call me 'Mom'." _She said as she walked over and gave him a hug.

"_So, Ronald, what are you and Kimmie going to be doing tonight?" _Mr. Dr. Possible asked, walking in and folding his paper at the same time.

"_Well, Mr. Dr. P, we're going to start with dinner at a fancy restaurant, then I planned on us going to this art opening thing down at the Middleton museum, and finally we'll take a long, starlit walk on the ridge trail just south of town before heading out to our place at the base so we can begin training next week."_

"_Sounds fun, Ron, you two be careful though. If you're too tired to drive out there tonight, you know you can stay here."_ Mrs. Possible said, smiling. Ron really was smarter than he let on, especially on things he could do for Kim, and his date planning, despite his lack of previous experience, was top notch.

"_Yes, I'm with your mother on that one."_ Mr. Possible said, putting an arm around his wife. Ron blushed a little, unused to how Mr. Possible referred to himself and his wife as his father and mother. Mr. Possible noticed Ron quickly shifted his eyes after a moment, and turned to see Kim descending the stairs, wearing her short, black dress, red jeweled choker, and carrying a bag with her; presumably filled with her clothes and mission gear for their week of training at their own home.

"_Wow, KP…you look great."_ Ron said, smiling goofily at her.

"_You don't look bad yourself."_ She replied, eyeing her husband as she moved down the stairs. Ron was wearing a black suit and a crimson shirt that complemented Kim's necklace and hair. (Of course, she had picked out the ensemble a while back, along with some other clothes for Ron so that he would be a little more in fashion. Now that they were married, she could dictate what he wore. Ron's bad fashion sense got him quite a few 'You're going out dressed like that?' comments from his lovely wife.) Mr. Possible turned back to Ron as Kim joined them.

"_Oh, and Ronald, I don't need to remind you that we love you like the son you are, but we don't need any grandchildren just yet."_ Mr. Possible said sternly, attracting Ron's attention and making him blush bright red.

"_Daddy!"_ Kim screeched, turning red like her husband. Mr. Possible grinned and let out a small chuckle at the embarrassment he caused. Mrs. Possible just folded her arms and gave him a hard glare, but eventually smiled at his joke. With the embarrassment out of the way, both teens said their goodbyes and headed out to their car, leaving the two now laughing parents at home. They loved both Kim and Ron very much, but an embarrassing joke or two at their expense was how they amused themselves as parents.

* * *

"_This night has been so wonderful."_ Kim said as she leaned her head on Ron's shoulder. 

"_I'm glad you liked it."_ Ron replied. They had had dinner at one of the finest Italian restaurants in Middleton, which actually was very good indeed. (Rufus had let them know his approval by passing out in the back window of the car as soon as they exited the restaurant.) They had gone to the art opening at the Middleton museum, in which were displayed works by some of Middleton's finest local artists. Surprisingly, they had run into Josh Mankey and Tara King. Ron had been afraid of a confrontation, but much to Josh's credit, he was actually quite nice about the whole thing. He even personally showed them around to the different galleries. He never asked if they were on a date or anything, and he didn't seem to notice their wedding bands or Kim's engagement ring, so they left anything else unsaid. He had accepted that Kim and he were just not compatible and was now dating Tara again. They had ended the night with a long walk along the ridge of the hills that were just to the south of Middleton, and were now sitting on the hood of Kim's car, looking at the lights of the city below.

"_Ron."_ Kim said suddenly. He looked down at his wife. "_Ron, I think we should let everyone know…about us, I mean."_

"_What about the press?"_

"_You know I don't care what they say anymore. I love you; you love me; we are married, and I'm just tired of hiding it. I want everyone to know. I want to be able to kiss you whenever I want, and hold your hand, and…anything else."_ Ron smiled at her as she gave him a determined look, and then kissed her lightly.

"_I'll go with whatever you want to do, Kim. All I want is to be with you, and if that means we announce it to the world or hide it forever, I don't care."_ Kim smiled at him and they shared another kiss, this time turning it into a full make-out session.

"_You know, we better get going. It's a long drive home, and I officially wanted to be there five minutes ago."_ Kim said with a grin as she tugged at the buttons on his shirt, giving him a lustful look.

"_Why, are you propositioning me, Mrs. Stoppable?"_ Ron asked, grinning and arching his eyebrows.

"_No, Mr. Stoppable, I'm ordering you."_ She replied, grinning just as widely and pushing him towards the car door.

* * *

"_Ron…Ron!"_ The attractive brunette sitting beside him nudged him in the ribs, gaining his attention. Her name was Jill and she was Ron's assigned training partner for the week. Ron pried his eyes away from staring across the room and faced her, mumbling under his breath. 

"_Hey, look, I know this is boring, but you've got to pay attention; this could save our lives one day."_ She continued once she had his attention and flashed a smile at him.

"_Oh, sorry, I got it, cut the blue wire if the timer is set, right?"_ Ron replied. Jill nodded agreement. She, along with eleven other young adults, were all part of the advanced training unit that Team Possible was allowing the U.S. military to host in their base near Mt. Middleton. Kim and Ron had been joined by the twelve others that Monday and had begun a rigorous training process that would prepare them to disable and dismantle all manner of advanced incendiary devices.

On the second day of training, they had all been assigned partners for their workshops, unlike normal, Kim and Ron were separated and placed with different partners. Kim had been placed with a twenty-one year old guy named Derek while Ron was placed with another twenty-one year old girl named Jill. Jill was certainly nice enough; she had long brown hair, a stellar figure, and seemed a kind person; all things Ron admired about her, but he had not paid much attention to her since the day before. Ron, most of the time, was focused on his wife, who was sitting across the room with a very good looking, muscular, dark haired man; her partner, Derek. Derek, as he was informed by Kim, was a student at MIT studying physics/international relations and was a new recruit to Global Justice. Ron had met him and he seemed nice enough. He had a good sense of humor and was a perfectionist like Kim…all things Ron was very aware of at the moment as he observed his wife laughing and smiling. He normally was not much of the jealous type; he trusted Kim, but right now, he thought he might just look a little like Shego with as much green as he was emitting.

Unknown to Ron, Kim felt much the same way. Since day one, Jill had been blatantly hitting on her husband, who, to his credit, had either been ignoring it or was completely oblivious to it. But Kim was extremely conscious of it as she laughed at another one of Derek's lame jokes, eyeing her husband and his smiling partner from where she sat. Kim could swear that Derek was even worse than Ron with the wisecracks; Ron was usually lame, but endearingly cute, whereas Derek just tried to hard. He was a nice guy, and very smart, so she did not mind too much, but she was only trying to be polite most of the time. Class finally came to an end that day, and Kim got up, intent on heading over to her husband when Derek stopped her for a minute.

"_Hey, Kim, can you wait a minute? I want to copy some of your notes on disabling the trigger mechanism." _Derek asked, opening his notebook to a blank page.

"_Umm…well…ok." _Kim said, handing him her notebook and sitting back down. She spied Ron a few feet away with Jill hovering over him at the door. He seemed to say his goodbye after a moment, then threw Kim a strange look and headed out. She knew something was wrong with him, but could not tell what the look meant. She had a suspicion that Jill had asked him out, and that made her blood boil, but she let it go for the moment, trying to hurry Derek up so she could go find Ron.

* * *

"_Hey, honey." _Kim greeted Ron as she walked through the door of their apartment. Ron was seated on the couch, staring at the TV, however Kim could see that he was not watching so much as using it for background noise while he thought. Something was bothering him, and it made Kim a tad nervous. 

"_Ron…are you alright?" _She seemed to startle him out of his haze as she took a seat beside him on the couch. He just scowled at the TV and stared straight ahead. He was mad because not only was he jealous of Derek. He had also seen his wife staying behind in class to let him copy down her notes, something he was a tad suspicious about.

"_Ron…Ron, tell me what's wrong."_ Kim asked, trying to crack his shell, her voice taking on a sugary sound.

"_Please."_ She added a moment later after he did not answer. Ron finally cracked.

"_You want to know what's wrong? I'll tell you! I've seen you over there the past few days with 'Derek the great' giggling at his jokes, with his suave hair and his MIT education, and all the rippling muscle…"_ Ron started to rant angrily, getting up off the couch and pacing in front of her. For Kim's part, her demeanor instantly changed.

"_Oh, really! What about you Ron? I've watched you and 'Julie' and as far as I can see, she had you wrapped around her finger with her little smiles, and all her complaints, and her big tits!"_ By now, Kim was on her feet, angrily yelling at Ron and pointing at him as he was glaring back at her just as mad. For a moment or two, they just stared at each other…then they backed up and looked curiously at each other, then they broke out into a laughing. After a moment, they both composed themselves.

"_Sooo…all this time I was worrying about you and Derek, you've been worried about me and Julie as well?"_ Ron asked with a slight smile.

"_Yep."_ Said Kim with a nod and a smile herself. _"And I guess all this time I've been worried about you and Julie, you've been pre-occupied worrying about me."_

"_Yep."_ Said Ron.

"_I'm sorry, KP, I didn't mean to accuse you of something you never did."_ Ron added, looking ashamed.

"_It's ok, Ron. I was just as guilty as you."_ She reached over and pulled him into a kiss.

"_I guess we really are the ones for each other."_ Kim said a moment later when they broke.

"_Sorry, KP, you're stuck with me."_

"_Hmm…I can think of a lot worse fates than that_." She said, snuggling into his chest as they sat back down on the couch and she laid back on him. After a few moments of comfortable snuggling, the doorbell rang. Kim got up to answer it and Ron got up to start making dinner.

"_Ron."_ Kim said, looking back at him after she had peered out the peephole. He looked up at her.

"_It's Derek."_ She said, looking worried. He scowled.

"_Well, I guess you should answer it and see what he wants."_ Replied Ron after a moment of thought. Kim nodded and opened the door.

"_Umm…hey, Kim."_ Derek said, looking nervous and then noticed Ron standing in the background

"…_Hey, Ron."_ He added a little less enthusiastically.

"_Hey, Derek, what brings you by?"_ Kim was actually curious as to what he had come by for, even though it was less than opportune considering her and Ron's 'near fight'.

"_Umm…I came by to ask you something…um…could we talk in private for a moment?"_

"_Ok…I guess we can, why don't we step out into the hall."_ Kim answered, shooting Ron a look that said not to worry, which he seemed to understand. Once they were in the hall, Derek continued.

"_Kim…I know we just met and all, but you seem real nice, and I was wondering if you might like to…uhh…you know, go out sometime?"_ Kim smiled nervously…how was she going to break this to him?

"_You're a nice guy and all Derek, but I'm kind of in a relationship right now."_ Kim answered. Based on how he took this, she would explain the rest to him. She and Ron had agreed to start letting people know about them.

"_Oh…I'm sorry. I read your GJ profile the before coming to this training thing, and it said you were single and had broken up with your last boyfriend a few months ago…any chance that you might become available soon?"_ He asked, looking hopeful. Kim thought he was a strange combination between nice and arrogant…right now, she could not really decide which.

"_I'm sorry, Derek, but I kind of have a little confession to make. This is not just a dating thing…you see, Ron and I aren't just partners on Team Possible…we're married."_ Kim held up her left hand as she said this, letting him get a look at her now glaringly apparent wedding band and engagement ring set. Not that as his age, he would normally be looking for such things, but he was getting to the point at which he should.

"_Oh…oh! I'm so sorry…It did not say that in your profile so I just kind of assumed you were available right now…I didn't mean to…"_ Derek started to sputter, turning red at his embarrassment.

"_It's alright, Derek, Ron is an understanding guy…and we won't hold it against you."_ She said, chuckling a little.

"_Thanks…oh…and the best of luck to you two."_ He said, turning to leave.

"_I'll see you in class tomorrow, don't be a stranger. Ron and I would love to hang out sometime."_ She said, trying to be as nice as she could be to him. She then turned and walked back into the apartment, chuckling to herself. She would have to remember to contact Dr. Director about updating her and Ron's GJ profiles soon; didn't want any more of those mistakes happening again.

* * *

It had been two weeks since they had completed their week long training session at the Team Possible HQ and Kim and Ron were back to their usual routine of school. Of course, they also had the added tasks of training all the cheerleaders and a handful of other girls at the school in the art of self defense, as well as continuing their training with the government two afternoons a week and during their weekends. For the last two weeks, they had both been run ragged…not to mention the fact that graduation was scarcely a month away during the last week of May. Ron was trying to stuff in some extra studying here and there (well, he wasn't per se…but his wife was making him.), and of course, Kim was tutoring him, which also helped her study at the same time. At night, they both, even Kim…the 'more energetic' one, had little interest in love making or even watching TV since they usually passed out in bed as soon as the books were closed or their training was complete. The last week, however, had been even stranger, though. 

The Space Center, ever careful, had begun to step up security even more than usual, insisting that Mr. Dr. Possible stay closer to his work, which meant he had moved out to the base during the week, and would visit his family on the weekends. Things on the war front had taken an even greater turn for the worst, realizing that the world's supply of petroleum was limited, and that control of the Middle East was vital to each of their economies, both sides of the war had intensified efforts to gain strategic control, drafting was stepped up, military and civilian targets were more heavily fortified, and rationing was intensified. The highways and interstates of the United States were finally being used for one of their intended purposes: moving troops and supplies rapidly across the US while maintaining strict control of access to the roadways. The mood of citizens, however, was rapidly degrading. Faced with an almost halted economy and the strict control of fuel supplies, people began to take to the streets. In the past, riots and protests were things people from Middleton had only seen on TV from other cities, but now, they had finally come to Middleton. Foodstuffs were in short supply, and some were even not being sold or shipped currently.

It scared and confused many, but for Kim and Ron, who had witnessed the beginning only months before, it was downright terrifying. Bombings and terrorist acts had intensified as the war had; Middleton was now seeing some attacks. Car bombs and small explosives had been used on two targets in the last two weeks. Then the call came. It was a bright Thursday afternoon; they had just finished classes for the day and were getting ready to head out to the base to continue their training. Wade had beeped in just before they were set to leave.

"_What's the sitch, Wade?"_

"_Hey, Kim…I've got a mission."_ Wade said, looking haggard and tired, but most of all worried.

"_Hey, Wade."_ Ron greeted brightly, looking over his wife's shoulder down at the disheveled pre-teen.

"_Hey, Ron…Kim, Ron…this is no ordinary mission…and I know you have not completed the course yet, but you two are the closest."_ Wade said, looking nervous….Kim and Ron both immediately got the idea…they looked at each other worriedly. It was something they never expected to actually have to do.

"_It's a dirty bomb, not quite a nuke, but pretty nasty. It's been detected in a small van outside the Middleton courthouse; it was left there not two minutes ago. We think it's on a timer so be careful, but swift. I have alerted local authorities; they should meet you there."_

"_Thanks, Wade…and, Wade, its been really great working with you; you're one of the best friends we could ever have."_ Kim said, looking sadly at him. Things would probably turn out alright, but just in case they didn't, she wanted Wade to know he was a great friend and a good person. Ron nodded in agreement, shooting him a 'thumbs up' before she cut off the device. Ron pulled her into a hug and then gave her a quick kiss.

"_Well…let's go."_ He said.


	9. In the Open

I have not done a disclaimer in a while, so: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable and all related characters are property of Disney, this fiction is not written for profit or gain, just for fun.

As always thanks to my beta reader, daywlkr82, and all my reviewers. The next chapter should be the last (with a possible epilogue), so we approach the finale!

* * *

**Chapter Nine In the Open**

The van Wade had identified was a white sixteen passenger sitting almost directly in front of the main entrance to the courthouse. The courthouse in Middleton is located on a small civic square, around which sit the county courthouse, city hall, the central library and the police station, each building produces a fairly large amount of pedestrian and motor traffic, making it an ideal location for a bombing if you wanted to take out civic leaders and a large group of citizens and law enforcement individuals. Unfortunately for the individuals that worked in the area, all the streets surrounding the square were fairly busy and important traffic routes linking the different sections of the city of Middleton, which meant that the streets could not effectively be blocked off without a number of traffic problems. When Kim and Ron arrived on the scene, it did not take long for all Hell to break loose. When they approached, the police had already cordoned off the area (they were right next door, not too far a walk) and allowed entry to Team Possible. Wade assessed the situation via the Kimmunicator and the satellite that he had been helping the government build.

Kim and Ron cautiously approached, Ron in front and Kim brining up the rear. No sooner had Ron opened the door than what sounded like very loud, rapid firecrackers were heard coming from behind the police line.

"_What the hell was that?" _Ron and Kim both yelled as they spun to face behind. Two individuals could be seen brandishing large assault rifles and running towards Team Possible, trying to shoot police as they went. Bullets came flying towards the two, the police returned fire, citizens were running screaming, and some brave souls were running into the fray trying to help while others were trying to get away.

"_Get down!" _One police officer yelled towards them as the two assailants continued to push forwards towards the two heroes; they were both clearly also wearing bullet proof vests. Of course, Kim would hear none of that; she had immediately leapt into action, flipping high into the air and trying to come down and kick the rifles from the two assailants' hands. Three things happened simultaneously, and time seemed to slow. One of the men was finally shot in the head as he ran for Ron and fell. The other fired wildly into the air, attempting to stop Kim, and was shot at the same time as his partner. A high pitched scream could be heard as Kim hit the ground just in front of the two, now dead, assailants.

"_KIM!" _Ron yelled, running towards his wife, who was crumpled on the asphalt in a heap, clutching her left arm.

"_Kim…Kim, please be ok….speak to me, Kim." _Ron was near tears as he kneeled next to his wife and gently turned her to face him. Her face was scrunched up in agony, and red could be seen seeping though the fingers that clutched her left arm.

"_Oh, God…the movies are wrong; this hurts like hell; nobody could go on fighting like this..." _She gasped out after a moment, tears seeping out between clinched eyes.

"_Kim, let go, I have to bandage it." _ Ron said. He was desperately fighting the urge to scream like child and run away from this mess, but he knew he had to hold it together for her. Ron ripped off his left shirt sleeve to fashion into a bandage, and pried Kim's hand away. He could see that her arm had a large new groove across her bicep that was bleeding profusely, but luckily did not look like it hit anything vital. He snugly wrapped the cloth around her arm and replaced her hand to hold it there. He was about to call for help when he noticed the officers beside him.

"_Ron..."_

"_Kim, we're getting help; it'll be alright, honey."_ He started to sooth her.

"_Ron, shut up! ...The bomb…you have to go deactivate it…"_ Kim gasped as she looked up at him. Realization hit him; in all this chaos, they had not even touched the bomb.

"_Shit!"_ He cursed, handing her over to an officer and running for the van. Who knew how much time they had left?

"_Oh God…Wade, I need help!" _Ron yelled at the Kimmunicator as he got in the van and noticed the small digital timer on the top of what looked like a wooden box. He had only four minutes to disable the device or they were all toast.

"_Calm down, Ron…you've done this before; just do what you did in class." _Ron was breathing heavily and very confused. Thinking under pressure was never his strong suit.

"_I can't do it, Wade…we're all going to die."_

"_RON! Calm down…breathe…think about how proud Kim will be of you."_ Wade tried desperately to calm him, finally reaching him with his comment about Kim.

"_Yeah…ok…alright…first we…let's see…un-mount the timer…"_ Ron calmed a bit, but was still shaking and sweating as he got to work. Rufus and Wade both helped coach him thorough it and Rufus helped bite though wires.

"_Alright, little buddy…cross your fingers, we might die on this one…now…the last wire is that blue one, bite through it but none of the other ones."_ Ron directed Rufus, shut his eyes and looked away, afraid it might not work and they would all die. He heard a chomp…then…nothing. Ron peeked down at the Rufus and the timer, seeing the latter off and let out a sigh of relief. In five more minutes, Ron had the rest of the firing assembly removed, and bomb squad members (who had approached the doors to van just after he had finally deactivated the timer) now took the pieces. He exited the van, wiping the sweat that had been pouring down his face off with his sleeve and looked around.

First, he noticed the large crowd and news people on the edge surrounding the area. There were several ambulances loading people into them, and several medics working on others on the ground. In total, Ron would later learn that three officers were killed that day and four more were wounded. Not including Kim, who he was currently looking for. He soon found her sitting on the edge of an ambulance with a female paramedic working on her arm. Kim had a far away look in her eyes and did not seem to notice Ron walking up.

"_Hey, KP."_ Ron said softly as he came up beside her; he seemed to startle her and she looked over at him. She didn't say a thing, but Ron knew she was pretty shaken up by the whole thing. He was too, but now that the action was over and he knew his wife would be ok, he was calming down. Kim just looked at him for a moment then she started to cry, and he wrapped an arm around her and pulled up close to her, trying not to disturb the medic that was working on her arm.

"_It's all right, KP, everything's over, we're ok…"_

"_Oh, Ron…I'm so sorry; I was so stupid to go running into them like that…I could have died…and those officers…they…"_ Kim was distraught; it was not often that she messed up, but Ron had to agree it was reckless; however, now was not the time to remind her of that.

"_Shh…it's alright, you're ok…it's alright…"_ He stood there holding her for the next ten minutes while the paramedic finished up. The paramedic put her arm in a sling then left to attend others; she would have to go to the hospital to get it further checked out, but it was sewn up, local anesthetic was applied, and the wound was cleaned, so Kim was in no danger.

"_Thank you, Ron…I'm sorry…I love you."_ She said after she had regained her composure and looked at him again. Ron just smiled at her. Kim wasn't one to be phased by much, and she bounced back quickly. This was a different situation though, rarely had they been ever faced with actual guns and they had never witnessed people die. If Ron was a betting man, though, he would bet that it would be most likely him to be the one to have nightmares about this, and Kim would be able to put it behind her.

"_I love you too, but if you continue to scare me like that, you're going to give me ulcers by the time I'm twenty-five."_ Ron said, trying to lighten the mood for himself and her. Kim gave him a half smile; true to form, no matter how shaken up by this, Ron would always provide some escape for her. She gently pulled him down and kissed him….right as the police chief walked up with a few local reporters to talk to them.

"_Uhhhmmmm…"_ The chief interrupted them clearing his throat. _"Miss Possible, on behalf of the city of Middleton, and its citizens I would like to personally extend our thanks for helping us with this situation."_

"_Chief…I didn't do a thing; my partner here, Ron, is the one who deactivated the bomb."_

"_Oh…ok then…we'll thank you both."_ He said, seemingly unwilling to let Ron take full credit for deactivating the device. It was enough to get Kim's bristles up, even if she was stunned by being shot and on anesthetic. Ron just grinned and thanked him, shaking his hands. Then the reporters started in.

"_Miss Possible, Miss Possible…is it correct that you are saying that your sidekick, Ron Storable was the one who deactivated the bomb? And we saw you two kissing as we came up; is it safe to say you are in a relationship with your sidekick?" _One wiry man asked as he was writing on his pad. This set Kim off.

"_Ok, first off…yes, Ron is the one who deactivated the bomb; he deserves all the credit. Second his name is STOPPABLE…Ron Stoppable…S. T. O. P. P. A. B. L. E.…he is my PARTNER, not my sidekick. Finally, yes, we are in a relationship…and get my name right! It's not Kim Possible anymore; it's MRS. KIM STOPPABLE!"_ Kim was yelling at him by the time she was done, very much pissed off at the way everyone was treating Ron when he had been the hero saving them all from sudden death. Ron put his hands on her shoulders and set her back down on the ambulance.

"_Kim…calm down…it's ok, I don't care if they get it right or not."_

"_Sorry, Ron…it just all this and now they ignore you…"_ She said, berating and calming down, the adrenalin she had been running on gave out and pain swept across her from the wound on her arm. They spent the next few minutes answering questions, mostly ones surrounding their marriage…when, where, why, etc…it was almost as much news as the bomb incident.

* * *

Ron sat with his head in his hands; tears dripping down his fingers in one of Middleton Hospital's many waiting rooms. His own adrenalin rush, level of excitement, and shock had finally worn off. He had been strong for Kim, but now that he was alone, he finally let out the full range of what he had been feeling. They really could have died. Kim had been shot, and this was probably the first of many attacks. Ron felt like he had disappointed Kim's parents, her, and himself by failing to protect her. He was also relieved at the same time that she or he had not killed and they had been able to stop the disaster. He realized that even though Kim had kept him from going off to war and to certain death, the danger of it was very real right here in Middleton. It was all a bit much for him and he had just finally had to let it out. 

"_Ronald."_ Mr. Possible addressed the teen softly as he laid a hand on his shoulder.

"_Hey, Mr. Dr. P."_ Ron answered as he dried his eyes with his sleeve. Mrs. Dr. Possible was attending her daughter at the moment. Ron and Kim had come to the hospital directly after the interviews at the bombing site, and Mrs. Dr. Possible had promptly whisked her away to examine her wound, and prescribe medications to help it heal. She had not been angry with Ron, at least that he could tell, but suggested that he wait outside to help streamline the process. Ron had taken a moment to call Wade back, and to call Mr. Dr. Possible from the waiting room after he had set down, but it had been nearly thirty minutes since then, and every minute was excruciating. Mr. Possible had, of course, rushed over to check on his daughter.

"_Is something wrong, Ron? You said on the phone that she was in no danger and this was just to check everything out."_

"_No, nothing has changed since I called you…I'm just…a little overwhelmed by everything."_ Ron could not look his father-in-law in the eye; he felt so guilty about it all…he had to say something.

"_Mr. Dr. P……I'm…I'm sorry. I promised to protect Kim, and I failed."_

"_Son, listen to me. You and Kim save the world on a regular basis, and whether you realized it or not, your work has always been dangerous. Don't feel like you failed Kim, you were there for her when she needed you, and you can't protect her from everything. You saved Kim and everyone there from getting blown up, and I think that counts for everything in this case." _That was true; it made him feel a little better.

"_Thanks…dad."_ He nodded at Mr. Possible then put his head back into his hands. He was still upset, but Kim's dad was right, they had both chosen to live the lives they did, and it was dangerous. Mr. Possible smiled at Ron, despite the situation, he could not help but feel proud that Ron was his son; and in many senses he was his son, not just in-law. He and Kim had grown up together, and the Possibles had helped raise Ron and shape his values; he might not know it, but some of Kim's perfectionism had rubbed off on him just as his goofiness had rubbed off on her.

* * *

Kim sat up, letting the large comforter and sheet fold down in front of her as she sat in bed. It was early Saturday morning and she was wide awake despite the fact that she and Ron had been up late the night before. She had awoken a little while earlier with a cramp in her injured arm and had been unable to go back to sleep since, so now she was just sitting in bed watching her husband sleep and thinking. She was really just thinking randomly about many things, her life, school, Ron, parents, missions, etc... In the past week since the bombing and the following news coverage of it and the announcement of their marriage, they had been the subject of a lot of talk. In school, they had a range of experiences from people coming right up to them and congratulating them to people quietly talking as the walked by, and even the occasional taunt or outright mockery of their relationship. Kim tried not to let it get to her, but sometimes it did. It made her glad she had Ron because he knew how and when to calm her down. Sometimes she just needed to be left alone and others she needed him to say something. For his part, Ron did not let it bother him. If they had a problem, it was theirs, not his. He had a beautiful, talented, smart, caring wife and he was damn proud of it. 

The news media had been a little less forgiving. It did not take long for it to come out that they had done it just as Ron was drafted, and while nobody had officially confirmed it, everyone knew they had gotten married to get out of the draft. Political shows discussed the message sent by the two, and the fact that they were both crime fighters who needed each other; a surprisingly gentle approach. News coverage made comments on both sides of the argument, but entertainment coverage was the worst. Since Kim was young and gorgeous (having appeared on many 'what will she do when she becomes legal' countdowns and shows), they had mocked Ron's look, attitude, and even his grades. Some said bad things about both, but most of them picked on Ron, which got Kim's steam up. MTV actually commented on Ron inventing the Naco, and his 'naked mole rap', yet still went on to say he was a 'no-talent loser'. Kim sighed and let it go, no sense in getting worked up over something you can't control…at least that was her dad's advice.

She watched Ron, who was sleeping peacefully; a fairly unusual occurrence for him…at least before they were married. Kim had found that they both actually slept better together. Before marriage she had, on many occasions, watched Ron sleep (on missions, when he fell asleep on the couch, just hanging out, in class, etc…) and he was not a peaceful sleeper. He often talked in his sleep and moved around a lot, which was an indication of being uncomfortable. Ron's nightmares were easy to tell because most of them involved Kim or monkeys and/or both, and sometimes they even woke him up. He never liked to talk about them, and Kim usually left him alone, but Ron did have a bit of a 'darker side' for lack of a better term. While Kim often made fun of his irrational fears and phobias, she still understood how deep they went. To others, they were just stupid, but to Ron, he was actually afraid, even if it did look comical. Since they were married, he had slept better, seemingly soothed by the fact that Kim was near. For Kim, she felt more protected; Ron could watch over her and protect her while she was most vulnerable. She liked that about them; it gave her almost a thrill to know he was more comfortable with her around than without. She needed to wake him though; it was Saturday, and she had some shopping to get done, then a hair appointment, and some time planned with Monique. Tonight was their Senior Prom!

"_Ron…Rooooon…"_ Kim called softy. She knew it annoyed him, and grinned at the thought of it. This was the way his mom used to wake him up, and it was not so much that it was startling as it was annoying. The sound of someone's voice calling faintly at the edge of your consciousness can be rather irritating after a few minutes.

"_Whaaat…"_ He whined, rolling over and cracking his eyes at Kim.

"_Come on, Ron, it's time to get up. You told me to wake you when I got up so that you could get a ride into town and over to Felix's, so come on and get up."_ Said Kim, who was already out of bed and getting ready to head for the shower. Ron grumbled as he rolled over and slung his feet to the floor. In his opinion, Kim always got up far too early.

* * *

"_Kim…you gonna be ok?"_ Asked Monique as the two girls sat side by side in the hair salon. As the day had worn on, Kim had become more nervous. At the moment, she was twisting her wedding band around her finger as they were getting their hair done. 

"_I don't know, Mon…I mean this is our first big social event since our marriage, and now that the word is out…I just don't know what people will think…"_ Kim really did not know why she was so nervous about this. They had been married for nearly two and a half months, and everyone found out last week, but it was just…different. They would be affectionate in public, and people would see them, not that she did not want to be affectionate, she was just worried about whether people would support them, or if they would turn against them.

"_Oh relax, Kim, nothing's going to happen. All four of us are going to go out tonight and have some fun, and that's all there is too it."_

"_So…how'd you end up going with Felix? I thought you were going to hang onto Ryan for a while."_ Kim asked, knowing full well Ron had convinced Felix to ask her out after he had been dumped by Crystal a few weeks back (just after they had seen Kim walking home, actually)

"_Well, as you know, Ryan dumped me about the same time Crystal dumped Felix, and somehow, we just kind of decided to go together."_ Kim gave a sly smile to her friend; she knew Felix and Monique had hit it off after they agreed to go to the prom together and had spent a lot of time in each other's company the last week or so.

"_I think you make the cutest couple; any plans for after prom?"_

"_Yeah, we were planning on stopping by Josh's after party, then probably heading home…but I bet that's nothing compared to what you and Ron have planned."_ Mon replied suggestively, widely grinning at Kim. She and Felix planed to go to an after-party Josh was throwing, but had already ruled out the prospect of 'getting together'…Mon actually liked Felix, but if they did not work out, it would make for an awkward friendship. Especially since Felix was Ron's best guy friend and Monique was Kim's best girl friend.

"_Monique…"_ Kim said blushing slightly.

"…_Ron and I will probably stop by Josh's party with you two for a little while, but eventually we have plans to make it out to our house later tonight…and before you ask, it isn't any of your business…at least until I fill you in on Monday."_ Kim grinned. Monique grinned and nodded back at Kim giggling. (Oh…and much to Ron's pleasure, he found out he was more than capable of satisfying Kim…so luckily that fear of his was unfounded; now if only Kim could do something about the monkeys, robot horses, spiders, Camp Wannaweep, Cousin Shawn, skydiving…)

"_So I take it you and Josh have talked again?"_ Monique asked, a little concerned that Josh was angry over Kim's marriage and their breakup.

"_Yeah, actually he approached me yesterday about the party. He said he was not too happy about the fact that I kept Ron and my relationship from him…the way we broke up and all…but that he still wanted to be friends with Ron and me." _Josh really had every right to be angry, not that it would change anything, but he let into her for a few minutes, then admitted he thought that Kim and Ron were better together, and would like to be friends.

"_Well, that's good; you dodged a major bullet on that one, girl. You're lucky he's such a forgiving guy; if it was me, I'd be pissed."_

"_Yeah, I know…he had a right to know, but I thought we'd be keeping it a secret longer than this."_ Monique smirked at Kim; she knew what she had to say next.

"_I told you so." _

"_Yeah, yeah, I know…just don't let it go to you head."_ Kim sighed out, waving her hand in dismissal.

* * *

Compared to the previous year's prom and…well…every other dance he had ever been to, Ron Stoppable thought this year's prom was spectacular. First, he was there and he had not been slapped all night. Second, he had a date, and not just any date; the one and only Kim Possible (actually Stoppable, but he was not going to split hairs over it). Third, he had his fill of delicious four-star restaurant food, with good friends, two hours before said dance. And finally, he was not only at the dance with Kim, he was taking her home that night. It was grand indeed, and his grin showed it to everyone who could see. 

"When on earth are you going to stop grinning, boy…you know, your wife might get mad because you're doing that while you're dancing with me." Monique addressed her dance partner at the moment. It was about halfway through prom, and Kim had elected to sit this one out since her feet were hurting from all the dancing she and Ron had been doing the first half of the prom. Monique decided it would be a good time for her and Ron to have their customary dance for the evening, so she had grabbed Ron and dragged him back out.

"_Sorry, Mon, I can't help it…it's just who'da thought a year ago that Kim and I would actually go to senior prom together as more than friends? For that matter who would have thought we would be married?"_

"_I see your point; it has been a crazy year."_ Monique smiled at the goofball. Ron might be goofy, and he might have strange likes and dislikes but he certainly was a good friend, and she had noted (judging by Kim's happiness over the last couple of months) he must also be a good husband. Things might be freaky 'cause of the war, and the general mood around the school, and indeed whole town might be somber; but nothing could slow Ron Stoppable down.

Kim was sitting over to one side, chatting amicably with Felix about his date with Monique so far, but out of the corner of her eye, she kept an eye on Ron and Monique. Things had gone well thus far that evening, and Ron was still sporting that grin of his. Not that she could really blame him; she was just as happy they were there together and were having a good time. She imagined that Ron felt that much better about it considering how little luck he had with dances and other social functions in the past. That reminded Kim of a few incidents she would like to forget, though. Particularly their freshman Spirit Dance, which Ron had spent locked in the janitor's closet only being found later that night when the janitor was finishing cleaning the gym. She felt really bad about locking him in there; after all he had given her the courage to ask out Josh. He had said it was 'no big' and would make a good story later, but she could tell he was disappointed by it. For some reason, it also made Kim recall the time Ron had risked is life to save her from vanishing while she was on that date with Josh. She could still recall his face from when he gave her a thumbs-up from the bush line…smiling, but forced as if it pained him to do it. She knew why now; he loved her; risked his life for her, but she was out swooning over another guy. Kim smiled though; things had worked out in the end. They had gotten together, forced by war, but discovering love in the process.

Kim was also relieved by the fact that they had discovered that night that the people from school had in fact not turned against them (she had imagined a mob led by Bonnie carrying a hacked off broom fashioned into a torch), but actually supported their marriage…at least for the most part. There were a few 'nay-sayers' as always, but the great majority of the people they had seen and spoken to during the evening had voiced their support, or given them a thumbs-up, or even had yelled 'Go, Stoppable!' to Ron. Embarrassing, yet relieving at the same time. Even Bonnie, who had taken great pains at being discreet by speaking only to Kim over at the snack table when no one else was around, had said she and Ron looked 'reasonably happy' together. (She had quickly added that she had not said so, but it was coming from Brick; of course this was the best Kim thought she might expect out of Bonnie.)

"_Kim…Kim."_ Felix addressed his friend, who had seemed to zone out during their conversation.

"_Oh, sorry, Felix, I just got caught up thinking…now what were you saying?"_

"_I was asking if your arm still hurt."_ Kim looked down at her arm, which was in a sling and wrapped with a clean, white bandage. Her 'war wound' as Ron had quickly taken to calling it. She didn't like it as it reminded her of how close she had come to getting seriously injured, but she would have to wear the sling for a few more weeks until her skin had healed enough to not pull out the stitches when she moved.

"_Yeah, it still aches, but it seems to be getting better. You know, I think it makes Ron feel worse than me; he is still upset because he feels like he failed to protect me."_

"_You know Ron; you're the only thing he's serious about, but he'll be alright."_

"_Come on; Felix; let's get out minds off all that, would you like to dance?"_ Kim asked her wheelchair bound friend, who despite his infirmity, could move fairly well on the dance floor. They joined the group on the floor. Kim grinned at Ron from across where he was dancing with Monique, and he grinned back. It was a great night: good friends, good fun, and each other.

* * *

"_Oh, God."_ Kim gasped out as Ron backed her against the door to their apartment. Ron was feverishly kissing her neck, pressing her up against the door, and Kim was more turned on than she had ever been. She had one hand wrapped around his neck and her leg around his back, while he snaked one hand under her skirt. Her injured arm was protectively pressed between her and him. If Kim had anything to do with it, Ron Stoppable would get lucky tonight…several times; the perfect ending to the perfect prom night. 

_Beep, Beep, Beep-Beep_ the Team Possible alarm sounded curtly throughout the apartment, threatening to breakup the moment between husband and wife.

"_Don't answer it."_ Ron gasped, hoping it was nothing important and Wade would get the message. It rang again, then again. Kim growled through her teeth, and then went over to the 'TV' to answer it.

"_Now's really not a good time, Wade."_ She huffed as the screen came to life with Wade in the upper left hand corner.

"_Sorry, Kim, but this is urgent." _Wade answered. For the last few months, he had been working nearly non-stop for the government and Team Possible, and as a result, he continually looked tired and worried. Tonight, though, he looked even more worried than ever.

"_Anyway, I've got bad news. The government has detected a buildup of aircraft from the Chinese coast, and they are worried an attack is in the works, and will happen very soon. As you know, the war is not going well; both sides are getting more desperate, so the government has issued a warning to all personnel to consider taking precautionary measures to protect themselves by building or clearing out basements and bomb shelters or moving to safer locations. With the space center and all of our work, Middleton is a prime target, so all persons essential to the projects housed out here on the base are moving out here full time with their families. That means that your brothers and parents are going to be moving out here, as well as Ron's parents, my parents, and a large number of others, including Felix and his mom, Monique and her parents, and a lot of others. Our families will be housed here in the apartments, but once we run out of room here, we will begin setting up camouflaged tents around the compound. I hate to do this two you on prom night, but I need to ask both of you to help out setting up tents and getting the compound ready. A few national guardsmen are here to help, and your family will once they get here, but we have a lot to do before they start arriving later tonight."_ Wade grinned sheepishly. He knew Kim was going to be mad, but they owed him, and he needed help.

"_Alright, Wade…just let us get changed."_ Kim said in a huff as she stormed off toward their bedroom.

* * *

"_No…no…you have got to be kidding me. They cannot stay with us, at least not tonight."_ Kim looked horrified as she was facing her parents at the front door of her and Ron's apartment. She and Ron had just arrived back to their apartment after having set up nearly fifty tents and helping unload food trucks for the past four hours. It was nearly three a.m.; they were both dirty and tired, and all this had ruined their prom night, and now…to top it off…her parents were standing in their doorway telling her she and Ron had to house the Tweebs for the duration of their stay. 

"I'm sorry, Kim, but we just don't have room in our apartment with the Stoppables and we don't want them to stay in the tents all by themselves." Mrs. Possible addressed her daughter. She knew she was mad, and could sympathize. Not only had the night of her senior prom been ruined, but now her little brothers had to stay with her and her husband….it was not going to be pretty.

"AAUUUHGH!" Kim screamed and stormed off to the bedroom, leaving Ron and the Possibles standing at the front door.

"Well…I guess there's not much we can do about it. Just send them over, and I'll talk to Kim." Ron sighed; it was not the ideal night for him either, but there was not much they could do about it except suck it up and deal.

"Hicka-bicka-boo?" Jim asked.

"Hoo-sha!" Tim answered as they leapt into their sister's apartment, immediately examining the TV, wondering what they could use it for.

"TWEEBS!" Kim roared as she and Ron entered the living room. Ron sighed again; they were going to sit the boys down and lay out the ground rules for their stay. 'This is not going to be easy', he thought. Kim was still angry, and they knew just how to tweak her.


	10. The End

Well, and apology is in order for the long wait all of you had for this chapter. In my defense I've been rather busy the last month or so with projects, Christmas, etc… However, I do hope you enjoy this chapter, and the ending to my little tale. Please R & R and tell me what you think. I hope everyone has had a happy holiday and will have a happy new year!

I'd like to send my thanks to my beta reader daywlkr82, and all those who have reviewed, or added my little story to their favorites or alert lists. Until next time, be well!

**

* * *

Chapter Ten **

"_Ahhhhhh…I am going to kill you both!"_ Was what Ron heard when he woke about ten o'clock on Sunday morning. He groggily got up and made his way to the door, peering out, keeping the door slightly closed in case of flying objects. What he saw could only make him chuckle…and then maybe cringe. Kim was standing just outside the bathroom door with her back to him, dressed only in a towel, yelling at her two younger brothers in front of her who were holding a wrench and looking sullen.

"_What the hell do you think you were doing?"_ Kim roared angrily at them. Ron opened the door fully and quietly watched them from the doorway.

"_We just thought that..."_

"…_you would like a little extra water pressure…"_

"…_for your shower."_ Jim and Tim answered her, looking sheepish. (Ron thought they should be more scared than that, but they were her brothers.) Kim's face turned even redder, and screwed up in anger just a little more while she contemplated her response to the two.

"_GET OUT!"_

"_What…?"_ Jim and Tim both exclaimed.

"_I said GET OUT! Get out of my house right now! Go find someone else to annoy!"_ Kim roared, chasing them towards the door.

"_Hicka-bicka-boo?"_

"_Hoo-sha!"_ Jim and Tim conferred nervously as they dashed out the door, dropping the wrench on their way; as soon as they cleared the doorway, Kim slammed it behind them, locking it as she turned around. She slumped on the door, arms crossed on her chest, and heaved; glad to have her brothers out of the house before she actually did kill them. Ron waited a minute for her to calm down as she stood there (he well knew the dangers of annoying his wife while she was already angry), then he cautiously walked up.

"_You ok, KP?"_ Kim looked up, still evidently a little peeved by her expression.

"_Yeah, I'm fine, Ron…I guess I better go finish my shower."_ Kim said as she stood up straight and started to head back towards the bathroom, a sour look still on her face. Ron tried to get out of her way, but she grabbed his shirt and started dragging him along as she passed.

"_Ummm...what are you doing?"_

"_Look, I've already had an exasperating morning…and you're going to help me work off some steam, Mr. Stoppable."_ Kim replied angrily as she dragged him into the bathroom with her. She pushed him up against the wall, closing the door with her foot, and began to tug at his shirt.

"_What…?"_

"_Oh, yes…you're going to help me release some energy…besides we have some unfinished business from last night, Ronnie, and I intend to collect."_ Kim eyed him, her face curling into an evil smile mixed with a look of anger, annoyance, and…hunger?

"_Uhh…Kim…maybe you should calm down before we…uhh…"_ Ron pleaded nervously. Kim gave him a 'shut the hell up and you won't get hurt' look, and then forcefully pulled him down into a kiss.

"_Oh, boy."_ Ron gasped as she released him and dropped her towel.

* * *

"_Whoa."_ Monique and Felix both gasped as they, Kim, and Ron walked through the two large metal doors that had slid open. They were now all standing (or sitting in Felix's case) just inside the door of the Team Possible central command and conference room. Kim and Ron just chuckled at their friends' reactions. The room was a large dome with six doors around the perimeter. In the center was a large round conference table (much like the one in 'Go Tower') and along the back wall across from the entry was a very large computer with one huge screen. When Wade had promised a headquarters for Team Possible, he meant it. The table, computer screen, and all the doors had the 'KP' logo emblazoned on them. Kim had wanted to change it to 'TP' for Team Possible instead of just her name, but Ron insisted they stick with her logo, apparently 'TP' just always reminded him of Toilet Paper. 

Relatively speaking, the Team Possible portion of the base was not so big. It occupied the first floor of the underground missile compound, which in all had nine floors. In the months preceding Kim and Ron getting married and moving out to the base, Wade had completely gutted and renovated the entire facility, not just the apartments but the missile silo areas as well. While the concrete shells, silo shafts, main entrances and exits were not able to be moved or reconfigured, the rest of the facility was surprisingly easy to change.

The headquarters consisted of six main components: The central conference and computer area; a general work room (where Kim and Ron's 'bomb' classes had been held); a small lab; a gym/locker/weight room/dojo combination for combat training; an armory containing all their gadgets (and even a few guns, which both Kim and Ron hated using or even training with, although they still did it to stay alert and versed). And finally a hanger/garage that, at the moment, only housed Kim's car, but in the future, they hoped to get a VTOL of their own (even if the garage was small enough they had questions about whether it would fit).

"_Welcome Kim Stoppable, Ron Stoppable, and Rufus. Unidentified guests, please remain motionless for body scan."_ A disembodied computer voice greeted pleasantly as they walked into the room. As Felix and Monique entered, two laser rifles came down from hidden alcoves in the ceiling and trained on the best friends of Team Possible. Blue-tinted light ran over them and then the machine guns retracted. "_Felix Renton identified. Monique Jenkins identified. Thank you and have a nice day." _ Kim cringed a little. Ron beamed, and Rufus perked up at the mention of his name. Wade had installed a few of his experimental AI projects onto their central computer, which everything was hooked up to, so he could try out the whole 'Star Trek' thing. Kim did not like it so much (it reminded her of villain lairs when they were about to self destruct), but Ron thought it was the 'most bon-diggity thing ever'.

"_Isn't it the coolest?"_ Ron asked Felix as they wheeled up to the computer. _"…oh and don't tell Kim, but Wade loaded Zombie Mayhem VII onto this thing for me!"_

"_Booyah!...let's Zombie Bash!"_ Exclaimed Felix, excited by the fact that they could bash Zombie's on one of the largest screens he had ever seen.

"_Sorry, dude, no can do. We have to get back to work after lunch, and I don't think you want to hear Kim's lecture about how this is the Team's equipment and she doesn't want us playing 'mindless video games' on it."_

"_You might be right…that lecture she gave you when we spent the whole weekend watching that new cable channel…'Explosions of the Ages'…was awful, and that was before you got married."_ Despite their disappointment at not being able to spend hours and hours on their favorite sport (zombie bashing, which should've been an Olympic sport as far as he was concerned); Ron and Felix took the next hour to explore the HQ. Ron took great pride in showing off Team Possible's toys to his friend, and Felix was quite taken with the armory.

The reason they were actually down in the base was to give Felix and Monique the complete tour, then they were taking a brief break for lunch. The entire morning, everybody there (with the absence, as Kim had noted, of Wade and her father who had both disappeared sometime that morning.) had been helping others who were arriving move in and get settled. Kim and Ron had been helping to supervise the placement of equipment and people around the base. Along with the scientists and officials arriving, there were also families, equipment, large stores of food and water. They had retired to Kim and Ron's apartment for lunch just moments before when Wade's head popped-up on their TV.

"_Hey, guys!"_ Wade exclaimed. Kim and Ron exchanged a surprised look. Not that they would normally note Wade's appearance, but today he looked brighter and happier than they had seen him and months.

"_Hey, Wade, you look like your in a good mood; do you want to join us for lunch?"_ Kim asked, smiling back at their friend.

"_No thanks, but I do have good news! Your father and I think we have finally got a solution to stabilizing the cold fusion reactor that we have been working on for the past few months!"_

"_Umm…pretend I don't know what any of that means."_ Said Ron, shifting his eyes between Kim and Wade. Kim sighed.

"_What it means is that they may have found a way to produce safe, abundant, and environmentally friendly electricity!"_ Kim explained to her husband.

"_Oh…cool."_ Ron replied, still obviously a little lost.

"_So, Wade, now that you have a solution, any word as to how long it will take to get a working reactor up and running? You know this technology could actually end the war!"_ Kim asked and continued getting excited at the possibility of actually being able to help with a sitch that, until now, had decidedly been out of Team Possible's arena.

"_It's hard to say, but we are over the big hurdle now; it's just a matter of assembling one large enough to test the possibility of actually running a whole city off of one…a month or so with the right people, and materials."_

"_Wow, that's quick, keep us posted; we would like to help out if we can!"_ Kim admonished. Wade, obviously excited that someone got what he was talking about, grinned from ear to ear, gave them a thumbs up, and then blinked out.

The rest of the day proceeded quickly. After lunch, the group got back to work, and that evening, much to Kim's dismay and Ron's elation, they received word that all schools were closed until the government deemed it safe to return. It seemed were now considered a terrorists target. Kim was angry about having to postpone their graduation, but Ron was just happy about getting a vacation of sorts.

* * *

"_Come on, Ron, don't you want to graduate!"_ Kim admonished her husband as they were sitting on the couch, watching TV together in one of the rare moments her brothers were actually sitting still and behaving (as they were stretched out on the carpet in front of them). It had been two days since they had all gotten everything situated on the base and the 'school break' had been announced. They had started this 'discussion' at dinner and Kim still could still not understand Ron's position on the matter. 

"_Oh, come on, KP! We're going to graduate eventually anyway, and with all that's been going on, I know I could use a vacation, so I don't see why you're so worried." _

"_I'm not worried, Ron! I just want to get high school over and done with; we've been working for this day for so many years now, and it's now pushed back indefinitely!"_ In reality, Kim was worried, not so much about when they graduated, she just had a bad feeling in her gut.

She reasoned that if they had canceled all school for the time being, all over the country, then things might just be worse than they seemed. Despite their comforts on the base, things were worse outside its perimeter. On the base, they had to ration their food, stay as much out of sight during the day (for fear of air raids), and live on the base with over two-hundred other people, many of them strangers, for an undetermined amount of time. The conditions on the base, though, were not half as bad as those outside the compound. The government was becoming unable to ensure the amount of rations (food and resources) were reaching America's communities. Fuel for personal transportation was completely cut off from private citizens. People were desperately trying to build makeshift bomb shelters and secure enough food and water for stays in them. Some cities were even in outright panic, sections of them beginning to resemble the post-apocalyptic movies that Ron loved to watch. It had occurred to Kim that civilization itself was beginning to break down. There was a very real possibility that the United States as a nation, as well as many others could cease to exist. But what could they do? How could they reach a truce….and how could Team Possible help? They weren't diplomats or politicians; they had no experience or training with this type of situation.

* * *

"_Mmm…tell your brothers to be quiet…mmm…"_ Ron mumbled as he rolled over towards Kim. 

"_Ron! Get up, Ron!"_ Kim yelled at him, grabbing his arm and yanking him up from sleep. It was four a.m. and only seconds earlier Kim had been startled from her peaceful sleep by the base's blaring klaxon of an alarm.

"_What's that?"_ Ron asked, alarmed, but still sleepy as he stumbled out of bed after his wife, pulling on clothes as he went.

"_It's the air-raid alarm, Ron! We have to get inside the base, our apartment isn't safe."_ Kim yelled over the noise as she grabbed a coat and headed for the front door. Her brothers were sitting up in the living room, looking bleary-eyed and confused, much like Ron. As Kim ran towards the door, the boys beginning to follow, the TV/ View Screen jumped to life, and Wade's life sized head appeared on it.

"_Kim! Ron! Wait!"_ Yelled Wade, just as Kim started to run out the door.

"_Wade, we don't have time for this; we've got to get to the base!"_ Kim said, addressing their tech-guru. As she said this, the base alarms shut off, allowing them to talk without yelling.

"_Sorry about that, guys. It was a false alarm; we thought it was an air-raid, but it wasn't."_

"_What are you talking about, man? Why did you set off the alarms and get us all out of bed for a false alarm."_ Ron questioned, less sleepy now that his adrenalin and kicked in. Kim rolled her eyes at his slow start-up, but was proud of him for actually asking a needed question.

"_Well, that's the interesting part. Just a few minutes ago, we detected an aircraft entering our airspace; it wasn't flying very high so we thought it might be a tactical fighter coming in on a reconnaissance run or something. When it did not identify itself, we set off the alarms, but just after we did that, the computer identified the craft." _ Kim blinked, so did Ron and her brothers.

"_So…what does that mean?"_ Kim asked, voicing the group's bewilderment.

"_Well…you just gotta' see this to believe it."_ Wade replied, a large grin spreading across this tired face._ "Just get some normal clothes on and come down to the helicopter pad."_ Wade added before blinking off the screen all together. Kim and Ron looked at each other before heading back to their room to change into some normal outfits. Jim and Tim meanwhile had started to change into their clothes as well. Just as Kim closed the door, she yelled back to them.

"_Don't even think you're coming you two. Go back to bed."_

"_awwww…man."_ She heard them both let out.

* * *

Kim and Ron exited the apartment building and made there way across the compound to the helicopter pad that was positioned on the top of the concrete bunker that served as the enclosure for the former missile silo. What they expected to see was a scene of total chaos with people running for the bunker dressed only in their pajamas and the national guardsman trying desperately to maintain order. However, that is not what they found. Crowded around the pad were at least two-thirds of the base's current occupants, at the center of which they could make out was a large round space. As they approached, they could see that the center circle was lined with national guardsman many of which had their rifles up and trained towards the center of the opening. Kim also looked around and around noticed the short 'watchtowers' that had been installed by Wade containing automated anti-aircraft lasers were also trained on the center of the circle. 

The crowd parted as they saw Ron and Kim approaching, and as soon as they saw it, Ron could not hold back a small laugh; Kim just smirked. Sitting at the center of the circle was a small, smoking, blue hovercraft. Sitting on the pavement with their backs leaning up against it were none other than Shego and Drakken, both with their hands up, looking sullen.

"_Well…this is an unexpected visit."_ Proclaimed Kim as they stepped slightly into the circle and both villains looked their way. _"What brings you two all the way out here?" _Kim asked with a satisfied smirk.

"_Umm…err…ahhh…"_ Drakken mumbled, agitated, but still looking at the pavement, keeping his hands up.

"_Go on, tell them, Dr. Dumb!"_ Shego spat at him.

"_Umm…we're here to…ahhh! We're here to surrender ourselves and request asylum."_ Drakken finally spit out, clearly hating every word of it. Kim and Ron just looked at each other for a minute, and then both burst out into peals of laughter.

"_You're…you're kidding right?"_ Ron finally asked between fits. Dr. Drakken let out a growl before speaking again.

"_No, we are not kidding, you buffoon!"_ His face turned slightly purple with his anger.

"_Shut up, idiot! We're already sitting here at gunpoint!"_ Shego yelled back at her employer, as angry with him as ever. After a moment, Kim and Ron both regained their composure enough to speak. By now, Rufus was out of Ron's pocket (where he had stuffed him on the way out the door, still asleep) and sitting on Ron's shoulder looking bewildered.

"_Ok, so let me get this straight. You both just flew into our headquarters, landed, put your hands in the air, and have just asked us to accept your surrender in exchange for protection!"_ Kim repeated to them. Dr. Drakken did his best imitation of Kim's puppy dog pout (though he knew it not).

"_Yes."_ He answered. Kim's communicator beeped in her pocket, obviously Wade had something for them.

"_What's the sitch, Wade?"_

"_Well, Kim, I've scanned them with everything I've got, they're clean except for Shego's powers and the normal systems on the hover-car. What do you think we should do about them?"_ Kim eyed the villains skeptically, and then threw a look to Ron and Rufus. They needed to take a little conference on whether to hear them out or not. Ron seemed to get the message and walked up beside Kim so the three of them could see the screen on the Kimmunicator.

"_Well, guys, here's the deal. We've got two villains sitting on our secret base in the middle of nowhere, with a hover car that looks like it is on its last leg; asking us to take them in and protect them in exchange for their surrender. For one, I'm skeptical, but we can't very well let them go, so I say we hear them out, and see about calling Global Justice to see if they can haul them off to jail. What do you think?"_

"_I'm with Kim on this one; we really can't let them go, and the only thing we seem to have to worry about is Shego since Drakken is a pansy." _Ron replied, Rufus nodding in agreement. Wade seemed to be thinking about it, but then nodded his head in agreement.

"_That's pretty much it. Why don't we talk to them in the team conference room? I'll meet you there; and I think I might have a way to neutralize Shego's power for the time being."_

"_Alright, we'll meet you there."_ Kim said, going into 'mission mode' and adopting an impassive expression.

* * *

"_Welcome, Kim Stoppable, Ron Stoppable, Rufus, Dr. Drakken, Shego, and unidentified guests."_ The disembodied computer voice greeted as the group entered the central Team Possible conference room. Kim blushed a little again at the greeting, and she caught Shego raising her eyebrow in recognition. Kim, Ron, and the two villains entered accompanied by six national guardsmen, still with their side-arms out, trained on the duo. Until they could neutralize Shego and get them secured, they did not want to take any chances. Kim and Ron were surprised to see Wade himself, in person, sitting at his place at the conference table when they entered. 

"_Hey, guys."_ Wade greeted, getting up to meet them and holding out what looked like two large bracelets.

"_Hey, Wade, my man! What are those things?"_ Ron greeted and then asked, eyeing the two bracelets.

"_These are for Shego."_ Wade stated as he approached the voluptuous villainess. She scowled and eyed the devices.

"_No, really, you shouldn't have."_ She sneered, igniting her hands when he got near. The guards on either side of her cocked their pistols and ordered her to 'stand down'. Shego, however grumbling, decided it was wise to comply.

"_I'm sorry, Shego, but we just can't let you walk around here with all of your powers, and these bracelets will inhibit your plasma bursts. They also contain inertial dampers that will make it hard for you to do any kind of martial arts. Now they are just prototypes so don't try and use your powers too much with them on; if you do, they may overload and explode."_ Wade said, securing the bracelets on her wrists and locking them with a special key.

"_And I should worry about that, why?"_

"_Let's just say, if they do explode they contain enough energy to take your hands completely off at the wrists."_ Wade smirked as her face fell. The group took a seats at the table and the guards fell back to stand around the edge of the room, holstering their weapons, but keeping sharp eyes on the villains. Shego was the first to speak after a moment of silence, raising one eyebrow as she did.

"_So, Kimmie, is it true what they're saying in the papers; you and Stoppable are married?"_ Kim and Ron blushed, while Shego just smirked. Dr. Drakken raised his head looking bewildered and agitated.

"_Don't be ridiculous, Shego; if the buffoon and cheerleader were married, don't you think I'd be the first to know about it."_ Shego's face screwed up in agitation, and she rolled her eyes at Dr. Drakken's comment.

"_You are so stupid, you big blue idiot, it's been all over the news and in every magazine since nearly a month ago!"_

"_Shego, do we have to have another talk about your hurting words…"_ Drakken began.

"_Both of you, quiet!"_ Kim yelled over the duo's rising pitch. Both villains quieted down and looked to Kim to continue._ "Just to clarify, since it's none of your business anyway; yes, Ron and I are married."_ Shego snickered and Drakken just looked dumbfounded. Kim looked over at Ron, who looked just about ready to pipe up and say something with Rufus looking angry on the table in front of his master; however, Kim cut everybody off before the line of discussion could go any further.

"_Look, we are down here to discuss why the two of you are here, and why we should give a damn about protecting you." _Kim was getting agitated about this whole mess, and they were loosing valuable sleep time.

"_Quite right." _Nodded Drakken_. "We are here because we need protection and shelter, and we really had no place else to go."_

"_Says you…" _Shego huffed under her breath.

"_What about all your lairs, or you Mom's, or another villain's place?" _Ron offered, remembering how Kim had once told him about Drakken's mother's 'visit' on her and her mom's Mother's Day adventure. Drakken frowned, but continued with his explanation.

"_All my lairs have been destroyed, either by you two, or by the government. My Mother is on vacation, and we can't exactly just walk about town without getting arrested, and all the other villains are either in hiding or won't let us stay there."_

"_That still doesn't explain why you're set on surrendering or why you need protection." _Kim pointed out.

"_Dr. Smartass here decided he wanted to hook-up with the Chinese government for weapons development, then double cross them with their secrets, selling them to the British, then the U.S. found out what he was doing. Now, we are not only wanted in eleven countries but China and the U.S. are out to get us. All his and my assets have been frozen, and all his lairs former and current are covered up with either Chinese or U.S. agents. So instead of hiding out on some small little pacific tropical Island, here we are giving ourselves up."_ Shego ended, huffing and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Drakken just nodded.

"_So you're between a rock and a hard place and you've come to us for help, basically"_ Wade interjected, sipping the soda he always had present. They nodded again.

"_You do know right now this is a government facility attached to the space center, and we work for Global Justice, a government agency."_ Kim half asked, half stated to them. They nodded again.

"_It was merely the decision of which was the lesser of the two we feared."_ Drakken offered. Kim looked at her team after a few moments of silence, letting them think of anything else they may need to ask. After a few moments, both Ron and Wade gave her a nod, which told her they would follow her lead.

"_Well, I can't see much else to do, but contact GJ and see what Dr. Director has to say about it. Do we have anywhere we can lock these two up, while we talk to them?"_ Kim asked, looking towards Wade for an answer.

"_We don't have any real formal holding cells or anything, but I do have two small secure rooms downstairs in my lab built for locking in test subjects for study. We can each set them up a bed, but we'll have to find better accommodations later."_ Kim nodded to him; it would have to do for now.

* * *

"_I'm sorry Kim, but we just can't spare the manpower right now; you're going to have to keep them there until things calm down and we can get several agents to escort them back here."_

"_But Dr. Director, Ron and I could escort them to headquarters, and you'd only need one or two guards to watch them."_ Kim pleaded with the Global Justice head. The director just shook her head once more. She hated to leave her best team out in the cold like this, but Global Justice was stretched so thin at the moment the only people on base were she, communications technicians, and the scientists. All of their personal were in the field or committed elsewhere. Kim sighed, it looked like they were going to have to feed, protect, and house the two super-villains on the base for a while. Things were just not going like they had thought they would right now. Not only were her brothers staying with them, now she had two of her worst enemies to look after.

* * *

"_So, princess, how's married life treating you?"_ Shego asked with a pronounced smirk as Kim came into her 'cell' the next morning to collect the breakfast tray. 

"_I fail to see how that is any of your business Shego."_ Kim replied stiffly.

"_Oh, come on Kimmie! I'm stuck in this six by six cube for who knows how long, and I got dragged here by Dr. Dumbass to surrender myself. The least you could do is talk to me a little."_ Shego announced as Kim turned to leave. Despite her better judgment, this made Kim pause a little.

The war had been becoming a strain on everybody since they had been relocated out here; she could see Shego's point. In fact, it also reminded Kim of the mission she went on to help Shego get her brothers' powers back. The had never 'talked' much, but she had felt a type of connection with the villainess on that trip, and she couldn't help but notice certain….similarities…between her and the pale-skinned women sitting on the bunk in front of her. They both had brothers that, despite the annoyances they constantly served their sisters, they loved very much; they had both been (or were in Kim's case) teen heroes, and they both loved a challenge. It seemed to provide a certain comradery between the two. Kim sat down on the bed as far from Shego as she could effectively go and leaned against the wall, careful to keep her eyes on the villain and the door.

"_So…what did you want to talk about?"_ Kim asked, not really sure what to say to her adversary. Shego smirked at having persuaded Kim to stay and chat.

"_I already asked. How's married life treating you?"_ Shego asked, running a hand through her long black tresses.

"_Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt to talk about what's already been said in the press. It's good; Ron and I are still adjusting to it; neither of us ever planned on marrying so young."_ Kim replied, getting that dreamy look on her face that she always got whenever she talked about Ron lately. Shego's eyebrows shot up; this was something interesting.

"_Ahh…so Kimmie's in love with the buffoon. Now that's something interesting. Not like I didn't see it coming though."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_ Kim asked, exasperated by the fact that they had already had lots of people say the same thing.

"_Oh, come on! How can you not have seen it? What red-blooded, teenage, American male has a good-looking, popular, world-saving, cheerleader as his best friend, and only wants to stay best friends? Please, you two have been together since you were born, stands to reason you'd stay together." _ Kim blushed a little at Shego's remark…that was true, how many other male-female best friends like Kim and Ron did you find? And when you did, one of them at least (if not both), was always secretly in love with the other.

"_Well, ok, you might have a point. But seriously, I didn't see it coming. I mean Ron has always been there for me, but I never really gave him a chance until I had to save him…then…you know…I started noticing things."_

"_Hmm…were they naughty things?"_ Shego asked suggestively, narrowing her eyes and allowing a sly smile to cross her lips. Kim turned a little red.

"_Shego! No, they weren't naughty things."_ Kim admonished her. _"At least not all of them."_ She added under her breath a second later. Shego laughed. Kim took note too…it was a genuine laugh, one that spoke that she was at ease talking with Kim…almost friendly. Almost.

"_So tell me, what's he like in the sack? I always thought you had some reason for sticking with him, my bet was that he was good in bed."_ Kim turned even redder, her red hair making her blush stand out even more.

"_For your information, we did not even approach doing anything like that until we were married, and the rest is my business, not yours."_ Shego gave a mock pout at Kim's refusal to talk about her sex life, but moved on nonetheless.

Kim didn't spend very much longer with Shego, but the time they did talk was enlightening. Kim could tell Shego put up a tough shell; she gave up very little information about herself personally or her family, but was very interested in other people's. Kim got the feeling that she was simultaneously trying to pump her for information, but also genuinely interested in what Kim had to say. Kim thought it spoke to the fact that it must have been a very long time since Shego had had a confidante or just another girl to talk to. She wondered if it had been that way for Shego's whole life. She did not exactly get along with her brothers, and she seemed to not have many other friends besides Dr. Drakken; it would explain a lot about why she was the way she was. A thought struck Kim, maybe she would have Ron go and talk to Shego sometime. Despite his social shortcomings in high school, Ron was always able to win friends and had a particular knack for breaking through other people's shells. Then again, maybe she should go with him, as much as Shego was interested in sex.

* * *

It happened to be later that same day that the news first hit. It was really happening; American soil had been directly attacked. The thing they had feared for the whole war, and even more so the past week, was happening. The Chinese had begun bombing the west coast, and slowly moving east. Things would escalate now, even worse than before. The world could really end. 

Kim, Ron, Rufus, Wade, Felix, and Monique were sitting around the Team Possible conference table enjoying a break from their assigned tasks for the day. Wade, of course was, working on his projects. Kim had been helping Wade and her Dad (since she had a little understanding of how things worked), and Ron was, of course, head chef for the legion of people who had moved onto the complex. Felix and Monique, between make-out sessions (interrupted by Rufus, cause Ron did not want to be 'scarred for life'), were helping Ron. All six sat in dumbfound silence, much like the day the war was announced, listening to the news coverage of the bombings in L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, and the rest of the coast. After a few moments, Kim moved over to sit in Ron's lap, letting him wrap his comforting arms around her, Monique doing much the same with Felix in his wheelchair. Twenty minutes after the news was announced, others began to filter into the headquarters. Kim's parents and brothers were the first to join, the Stoppables were next to filter in, soon after joined Monique's, Felix's, and Wade's family. Most stood hugging their children, spouse, or just watching the coverage on the big screen monitor on the wall. Kim was vaguely aware that she had thought about doing something if this happened, but at the moment, she was caught up with the emotion of the situation.

A minute later, Kim was startled from her daze when she caught a peak of the color green from her peripheral vision, and the clank of metal hitting the table. Kim looked over, and was startled completely from her daze too see a nonchalant Shego sitting at the table watching the news with everyone else.

"_Shego, how did you get in here? You should be in your cell!"_ Kim asked, still a little out of it.

"_Yeah…everybody was running around once the news broke, so I just took the opportunity to pick the locks and get out."_ Kim stood up and glared at the villainess, putting her hands on her hips and catching the attention of most of the other people in the room who gaped at them silently.

"_Look, Shego, we really don't have time to deal with this right now, so I'm only going to ask you once nicely to go back to your cell."_

"_Unless I missed something, I don't see how you can do anything about what's going on, Kimmie. I'm not planning on going anywhere, so just pipe down. I came up to watch the news, and then I'll go back to my cell like a good little captive. Besides what can I do with these oh-so-fashionable bracelets on?"_ Kim huffed and looked back at Ron, who just gave her a shrug, though he was visibly uncomfortable with Shego sitting there, even if her powers and ability to fight were compromised.

"_Well, I don't agree with her about not being able to do anything."_ Kim announced to the group while she had their attention. _"The other night I got to thinking about our situation, and while I agree that up til now there has not been much Team Possible has been able to do about this war. I think that now, after the events of the last two weeks, we can make a difference!"_ This got everybody's attention, and they all turned to see what Kim proposed to do.

"_As I'm sure you all know by now my father and Wade have recently made a breakthrough in their cold fusion reactor research. Their technology promises to provide the world with a cheap efficient and a nearly unlimited supply of electricity. As I'm sure we are all well aware of, this technology rightfully belongs to the United States government, but think about what could happen if it were freely offered to the world. We could end this war, here and now, we could stop more people from dying unnecessarily."_ Kim ended, looking pleadingly towards her father and Wade, who both seemed to be in deep, conflicted thought over her proposal. After a few moments, her father was the first to speak.

"_I can't say that I completely agree that this will end the war, but I do see your point, Kimmie-cub. But how do you propose getting the word out on this? Our research has been completely top secret up til now, and the government is not exactly going to let us just waltz into Washington handing out secrets to everyone who wants them."_

"_I've been thinking about that."_ Kim started. Ron could clearly see she was on a roll now, and bright ideas were just flowing naturally out of her; he beamed as their plan started to form.

"_What if the announcement came from you two, the scientists, with the support and backup of Team Possible? If we could get Wade to hook us up to a global satellite video link, we could announce it to the world on TV, a lot like the villains when they announce their ultimatums."_ Kim began to pace as she thought about how to pull this off. Her father looked thoughtful again, and Wade seemed to catch something.

"_If we did that, it would force the U.S. to acknowledge that they do have the technology, and it would most likely get everybody to the table for discussions. They would just about have to agree to discuss it just because of the fact that the general public of both countries would know about it, and would want them to consider it!"_ Wade said, getting excited. His face fell a moment later though.

"_We have a problem though. Since I moved out here, I have not had a chance to hook up all of my equipment, all my satellite linking equipment for general TV signals is still crated up, and it would take two days to get it operational."_ Wade said, looking crestfallen.

"_Is there any other way to hack into the communication satellites so we can do it?"_ Kim asked.

"_I don't know, without the proper descrambler…"_ Wade trailed off, thinking. Everyone was silent for a minute before Ron piped in.

"_What about Channel 10 in Middleton? Couldn't we use their equipment?"_ He asked in a rare spark of brilliance. Kim looked at her husband and arched an eyebrow, and Wade looked at him stunned for a moment. He was right! Everything they needed was in that TV station, already hooked up and operational. All Wade would have to do was a little modification using a simple Kimmunicator, and they would be in business.

"_That's brilliant, Ron!"_ Kim and Wade announced at the same time. Ron smiled as Kim plopped onto his lap and gave him a thankful kiss.

"_Uh-hum." _Shego cleared her throat, getting the couple's attention._ "Not to interrupt the festivities, but don't you think you all should get to work on your brilliant plan."_ Shego stated, snarkily tapping her sharp fingernails on the metal table.

"_Yes." _Kim said, jumping up. _"Wade, you're coming with us on this one, so gather anything you need and meet us back here in fifteen minutes. Dad, you need to gather anything you need and meet us as well. Ron, let's get changed, we have a mission to do!" _Kim grabbed Ron's hand and dragged him into the locker room, leaving the rest of their parents, friends, and Shego in the conference room.

* * *

"_Hey!"_ Ron whined as Shego dived in and landed heavily on his lap. They were about to leave for Middleton's TV station; Kim was sitting in the driver's seat, her father and Wade were sitting in the back seat, and Ron had just got in, and was about to close the door to Kim's red, two-door sports car when Shego had wrenched the door open, out of his grasp, and flung herself onto his lap, and slammed the door in her wake. 

"_Shego, what do you think your doing?"_ Kim asked, since it seemed Ron was not only embarrassed, but had also had the wind knocked out of him.

"_I figured you could use a backup in case you ran into more of those fanatic suicide bombers like you did a few weeks ago. Since your arm isn't fully healed, you're not at 100 percent, and I know little Ronnie here is not going to be able to take down a mob of suicidal fanatics. Plus, I just want to get out of that cell for a little while."_ She stated almost conversationally. Kim frowned; once again, Shego had a point. She looked over at Ron, who gave a shrug from behind Shego as he tried to adjust to be more comfortable with the woman sitting on top of him.

"_I hate to say it, Kim, but she's right."_ Wade offered from the back seat.

"_Alright, Shego, you can come, but we won't take those little fashion accessories off unless I feel we need to, understand?"_ Shego offered her a small grin and sly smile as understanding. you get off now?" Ron asked from behind her, clearly flustered with having any other girl but his wife in his lap. Shego turned so she could see him.

"_Sorry, Ronnie, but the backseat's not big enough…besides I think you'll like having little ol' me in your lap."_ She offered with a predatory grin, grinding herself into him a little. Ron turned red with embarrassment and started to stutter about being married, while Kim turned red with anger.

"_Back off, Shego! He's mine; get your own."_ She said with narrowed eyes as they began to drive towards Middleton. _"And you, mister, better not be enjoying it; if I find out otherwise, you'll be sleeping on the couch for a month!"_ Kim added, addressing Ron, who paled a little.

"_But, Kim! I didn't….I didn't ask for…"_ Ron trailed off in an attempt to establish that it wasn't his fault the green girl was sitting in his lap. Shego laughed, obviously getting the reaction she was going for. Even Mr. Possible was laughing at the trio's banter from the back seat.

* * *

For once, Kim was glad that Shego was right. They did not have to fight off any maniac suicide bombers when they arrived at the TV station, but she had been useful in convincing the crowd gathered outside the station to part and let them through, as well as the security guards guarding the front door to let them through. About an hour of convincing later with the station's manager to let them use the equipment, everything was set. At 8 p.m., the station would briefly go off the air. Wade would use the Kimmunicator to instruct the satellite network to use their signal, overriding all others, and then about five minutes after the station had gone off the air, they would broadcast their message around the world. Kim, Ron, Mr. Possible, and Wade were sitting at the station's newscaster's desk. Shego was leaning just off set, supposedly helping monitor everything with the rest of the crew. Wade had images to describe their invention, and Kim had made some notes about what she wanted to say. They were ready. 

"_People of the world, as I'm sure you know by now, War is a terrible thing." _Kim began _"We can no longer afford to stand by and watch the killing continue. This war, as I'm sure you all know is for the control of the world's supply of oil. Oil, however, is a finite resource, one which has, for the last hundred years or so, provided us with transportation and synthetic products that make modern ways of life possible. It still stands however that Oil is a non-renewable resource, which means that we will eventually run out; and it seems that time is upon us. We are fighting over the last remnants of a resource that may run completely out in another fifty years. We must not let this bloodshed continue! We must band together and find a new way to solve our energy problems! I have with me two individuals that have been working on a project for the United States government that could solve most of our energy problems. Please hear them out, we want to offer the chance to the world to end the fighting. If the countries fighting in this war are willing to stop and work together to solve these problems, then they will receive this technology freely! I now will turn it over to Dr. James T. Possible and Dr. Wade Load to explain their technology…"_

Once the Wade and Dr. Possible were done, Kim closed by once again offering the technology for free if peace could be achieved. She and Ron offered their support as Team Possible. Now it was up to the governments and people to decide what to do. They could only hope that their message reached the right individuals, and wait to see what happened.

* * *

"_Mrs. Stoppable, Mr. Stoppable, Mr. Possible, and Mr. Load?"_ A tall dark haired man in a dark suit half announced, half asked as he strode into Channel 10's green room. Another man dressed much the same strode in behind him. 

"_I'm not sure you remember me, but I'm Agent Smith, and this is my partner, Agent Smith."_ Kim sat up. Once they had finished their announcement, Kim had decided that they should all go wait in the station's green room for a few hours. Nobody was sure what would happen, and Kim wanted to wait for a few hours before they headed back to the base. Kim had decided to lay her head down in Ron's lap after a little while and take a nap while the others took seats around the room. It had been about four hours since they had made the announcement and now the two top level government Agents that had come to escort them to Area 51 a few years earlier had strode in to see them.

"_Hey! Aren't you the guys who took us to Area 51 and replaced my monster movie tape with that embarrassing home movie a few years ago?"_ Ron said, recognizing them and feeling perturbed by the fact that he had suffered such embarrassment at their hands.

"_Yes, we are…"_ Began one of the agent Smiths.

"_Ron, let it go."_ Kim said, giving him a look and hopping up to meet the men. _"It's nice to see you again, sirs. What can we do for you?"_

"_Well, it seems your announcement has made quite a stir; the President wishes to speak with you and your team."_ The agent seemed to first notice Shego sitting in the corner, buffing her nails on the leg of her jumpsuit

"_We were unaware you had brought Ms. Shego along. We were informed by GJ that you had them in custody, but why did you bring her here?"_ Kim turned and gave Shego and appraising look and the villainess just glanced at the group.

"_She came along in case we needed some backup. You see I'm not up to 100 percent since this gunshot wound, and she offered to provide support should we need to fight our way in. She is still in our custody, and those bracelets around her wrists prevent her from doing any martial arts or using her plasma blasts."_ Kim gave the agents a firm look, defending her position on the matter. Both agents just nodded.

"_It's understandable that you wished to use the resources that were available, however, she cannot come with you to see the President; we must take you to a rendezvous point where you will board a plane that will take you to his location; we will take her into custody from there and she will stay in our care until you return from speaking with him, then we will return her to you and Global Justice."_ Kim and Ron looked at Shego who nodded.

"_Alright then, let's go I suppose."_ Kim said, gesturing towards her father, Wade, and Shego. Ron was already up beside her, ready to go. He turned to her as they began to exit the room, following the two men.

"_You ready for this, KP?"_ He asked, looking a bit scared. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"_After us getting married, this is so not the drama."_

* * *

Six days and ten hours later, Kim, Ron, Rufus, Wade, Dr. Possible, and Shego (who had been returned to their custody just the day before) stepped out onto the helicopter pad of Team Possible Headquarters and Load Labs. Before them was the entire base, every single person on the base standing there waiting for them. In the front were their parents, Felix, Monique and even Dr. Drakken, who was flanked by two guards, but looked happy nonetheless. It had been announced on the news a few hours before, and the world was celebrating. The war was over. After six days of negotiations, a peace treaty had been signed. It even included the names of the six individuals who had begun the process of peace. (That's right, even Shego the supervillainness had been asked to sign.) Now everyone on the base was waiting for Kim to say something. She smiled a wide smile, and looked at the crowd, and then at Ron. Her partner and husband could only beam at her. She had stopped a whole war and had once again saved the world. He leaned over and whispered to her. 

"_You know, KP, you are the most amazing person I have ever met. I love you."_ She looked back at him, about to cry from joy. She whispered back to him.

"_Ron, I couldn't do anything without you. I love you, too. You know, I don't know what to say to them. You've always been better at speeches than me…why don't you say something."_ Ron looked a bit stunned at her and then smiled.

"_Hey, everybody, wouldn't you say this is one bon-diggity day!"_ Kim burst out into laughter at her husband's quirkiness, soon Mr. Dr. Possible, Rufus, Wade, and even Shego were all laughing and everybody else burst out into cheers.

* * *

It had been two wonderful, yet tiring months since their arrival on pad at Team Possible Headquarters. Everyone had moved off the base and back to their homes. Things were still rationed of course, and it would take lots of time before things went back to 'normal'. Since gasoline was still tight, nobody drove, and they still had blackouts, but Mr. Possible and Wade had made enormous advancement in their project with the addition of scientific talent from all over the world. They had all been flown in during the last 48 hours and now they were working nearly non-stop to get the first fusion reactor up and running. With any luck, people would be driving electric cars before the year's end. 

Kim and Ron had been surprised three days after their arrival back in Middleton to find Mr. Barkin himself standing on the Possible's doorstep.

"_Mrs. Stoppable, Mr. Stoppable, I wanted to personally come by and let you know that you will be resuming classes next Monday."_ He announced to them, and then added. _"I also wanted to tell you that you both did a good job. I'm proud to have taught you."_ Kim had smiled and thanked him, and Ron had looked stunned when Mr. Barkin gave him a firm handshake and a slap on the back.

It was now mid-way through July, and Kim and Ron had finally finished all their high school classes and had taken their exams. Kim couldn't have been more proud when Mr. Barkin had called Ron to his office a day after his final exam to inform him that he would be graduating with a solid B-plus average that year. Ron was now sitting with his classmates in the bleachers of their high school stadium, listening to his wife, the Valedictorian (of course, it seemed her only rival, Justine Flanner, while brilliant at math and science, had trouble with English.) give her speech. It was a warm, clear, bright, breezy day in Middleton. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the sun gave everything a golden glow as it began to sink into the west. Kim's fiery red hair was blowing in the breeze as she got up to make her speech.

"_I would like to welcome everyone to these commencement ceremonies for this year's graduating class. For those of you who might think your program was printed with a mistake, you might recognize me as Kim Possible, but recently I was married to the most wonderful man in the world, Mr. Ron Stoppable, so now I am Kim Stoppable. I was told that my speech today was supposed to be about what we have learned during our time here at Middleton High School, and what our future might bring. I'm not really sure what to tell you though. Our past four years here at Middleton High have been some of the most exciting years of our lives. We won the State football championship three times, the Cheer Regionals four, a volleyball championship, and many other honors. In the past year, however, all these things seem to have paled in comparison to what we experienced during the war which has come to be known as World War III. I won't sugar coat it and say everything has turned out fine, or that this is the worst we might experience in our lives. The truth is that things won't be right for a long time, and that the rebuilding of our society and the world has only just begun. But the things we have learned from our fellow students and the teachers while we have been here at Middleton High have prepared us to play an important role in that rebuilding. I won't skirt around the subject that my husband, Ron, and I are famous, or that we have on several occasions helped to save people's lives. However, what we have done is what anybody here in this audience could do, as long as they have the love and support of the ones they love, and the drive to do so. Our education here at Middleton High has prepared everyone here to go out and do great things. Our teachers have given us the support and knowledge to do anything we set our sights on, and the friends we have made here should help everyone to reach great heights. So as you go forth after this graduation, don't forget the things you have learned within our school's walls, or the friends you have made. Everyone here has the ability and knowledge to do great things, don't ever forget that."_

* * *

Ron Stoppable was just sitting there with a peaceful smile on his face and a glass of punch in his hand, watching his wife animatedly talking with several of people they had just graduated with. Once the commencement was over, they had stayed and taken pictures with nearly everybody there, had gone out to a nice dinner with their family and had eventually made it over to Monique's house for the post-graduation bash. Since the end of the ceremony, Ron had been unusually quiet, but he seemed happy enough so Kim had left him alone, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. 

"_So, Mr. Stoppable, what are you thinking about?"_ Asked Kim as she let herself fall onto Ron's lap. It was late and people were finally starting to filter away from Monique's house to other parties or their homes. Ron smiled at her and let out a small sigh.

"_Oh…I've just been thinking about lots of things."_ He said a little airily.

"_And what are these 'lots of things' prey tell?"_ She asked, pressing him for a more direct answer.

"_Well, you know, everything that has happened in the last year, everything we've done together in high school…you know, just reminiscing."_ Kim snuggled her head into the crook of his neck and started playing with his fingers.

"_You know, High School was just the beginning, we've got our whole lives still ahead of us."_ Kim answered; he could see her smile a little out of the corner of his eye.

"_Hmm…that kind of worries me. If we've done this much over the last four years, what are the rest going to be like?"_ Kim chuckled and sat up to look at him. They smiled their dreamy 'in love' smiles at each other.

"Well, you know, Ron, whatever happens, we'll be in it together." She cupped his faced and pulled him close for a kiss.

"_Hmm…that's the best part."_ He said with a grin when they broke, his eyes still closed.

"_Hey, you two, get a room."_ Monique, Felix, and several others still milling around yelled at them. They all laughed together; it would be an interesting future.

The End

(Roll credits and sweeping theme music here.)


End file.
